Worm wars

              
1.Intestinal worms are a massive health problem in low- and middle-income countries, afflicting up to a quarter of the world's population.

2.Over the past 20 years, many organizations have pushed large-scale "deworming" initiatives, which often involve giving every child in a school deworming pills on a regular basis.

3.These programs — largely inspired by an influential study that ran in the late '90s in Kenya — were thought to not only treat children, but also improve their school performance and overall health. In other words, very inexpensive pills seemed to be"one of the most potent anti-poverty interventions of our time."

4.Researchers have been calling these promises into question. Most recently, a group of epidemiologists in London replicated and re-analyzed the results of that Kenya trial, and uncovered a number of flaws and exaggerations.

5.They aren't alone; for years, other research groups have been wondering whether mass deworming schemes are really the panacea some make them out to be. The high-stakes argument over their effectiveness has been dubbed the "worm wars."

6.And the worm wars aren't over. Many folks who work in development are pushing back on the latest debunking, saying the analysis was unfair.

Deworming schemes have been called one of the most important health interventions ever

Worms are terrible for human health. These parasitic bugs usually live in people's stomachs and intestines, stealing away nutrients from food and leaving their hosts weak, malnourished, even cognitively impaired. Left untreated, worms can cause organ damage and internal bleeding, and bring on other diseases. It's not surprising that people with worms — an estimated quarter of the world's population — may find going to school or working difficult.


Deworming schoolchildren with effective and inexpensive drug treatments has been called one of the most important health interventions ever. The World Health Organization, the Gates Foundation, and the World Bank all back large-scale deworming initiatives.