The proportion of children given deworming tablets in the six months previous to the NDHS 2008 survey was 21%, with the NW and NE regions representing the lowest coverage of deworming at 4.0% and 5.7% respectively. This is a marked contrast between the North and South of Nigeria regarding deworming, with the mean percentage of children dewormed in the Southern states, all in excess of 42%. There is national information on deworming in most states carrying out vitamin A supplementation through child health weeks including the north as well as what obtains in schools.

Odu et al (2011) carried out three mass deworming exercises at 6-monthly intervals in Ekpeye and Ogba Kingdoms for children in public and private schools in 2007 and 2008. Over 24,000 pupils aged 2 to 12 years received oral pyrantel palmoate in three consecutive phases under the supervision of trained field staff. Pre- and post-deworming surveys were conducted to determine the effect on the prevalence of helminthiasis. This study showed that school age children (5 to 12 years) were likely to have the highest worm load and there was a significant reduction in worm infestation and worm load after the exercises.

The researchers reported that deworming of school children provided an easy and sustainable access to the high risk group for helminthic infection and the integration of deworming into the routine activities of teachers and health workers, so ensuring programme sustainability. However, it was suggested that concurrent implementation of the holistic helminthic control package is essential to achieve an overall reduction in the disease burden, as the initial control strategy of reducing the number of people infected, was found to be ineffective because of the high rates of re-infection in the presence of dismal sanitation.