South Pacific situation summary
In the Pacific, school-based deworming efforts have been scaled up in Fiji, Kiribati, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu. Most of the Pacific Island countries received mass drug administration of anti-helminthic in the context of the programme of eliminating Lymphatic Filariasis. This intervention has probably reduced the prevalence of STH to very low levels but re-infections occur as long as sanitation remains unsatisfactory. WHO recommends that in order to sustain the low prevalence, periodical distribution of anti-helminthic in children is administered.