New research debunks merits of global deworming programmes

Re-analysis of existing studies finds that deworming schemes may not improve educational attainment as previously claimed

Deworming children, once ranked by Nobel laureates as the fourth most effective intervention to solve the health problems of the whole world, offers very little benefit despite the millions of dollars spent on it, according to a re-analysis of evidence.

The World Bank and the UK government are among the big funders of deworming programmes that were claimed to improve not only children's health and growth, but also their educational attainment and ultimately their country's economic prosperity.