DIEN BIEN, Vietnam -- Vietnam's Ministries of Health and Education and Training today launched a large-scale, U.S.-supported distribution of medicine to help children and women of reproductive age in disadvantaged areas of Vietnam fight off intestinal worms.

To kickstart this year's mass campaign, the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) is joining Vietnam's National Institute of Malariology, Parasitology and Entomology (NIMPE) of the Ministry of Health in Dien Bien Province to distribute medicine to 63,000 school-aged children living in the province.

"Deworming for people with high risk of worm infections, such as elementary school students, preschool children and women of reproductive age, will reduce the risk of vitamin deficiency, anemia, malnutrition, and complications due to worms such as intestinal obstruction," said Dr. Do Trung Dung, Head of NIMPE's Parasitology Department. "Effective deworming will enhance the physical and mental development of children, reduce the likelihood of anemia in women due to hookworm, and contribute to the comprehensive development of mothers and their children."

During the period from November 2011 to September 2013, USAID is funding mass drug administration campaigns for women and children in 17 targeted provinces where the Ministry of Health has identified gaps in deworming drug coverage. Mass drug administration campaigns are being conducted in partnership with World Vision Australia who are donating the drugs.

"We are pleased to be part of the effort to address an important health issue for disadvantaged women and children, particularly to protect opportunity for women," said USAID Mission Director Joakim Parker. "As Ambassador Shear noted last year, the U.S. Government hopes that strong results from U.S.-Vietnamese collaboration in the health sector will provide models for success in other countries."

In total during 2012, drug administration will reach 1.5 million children aged two to five years in 22 provinces; 5.1 million school aged children in 38 provinces, and 3.5 million women in 15 provinces. In 2011, USAID supported drug administration campaigns in 10 provinces where 686,916 school aged children and over 1.2 million women of childbearing age received a deworming drug.

Since 2000, USAID has provided more than $588 million for development and relief efforts in Vietnam.