A parent was horrified after her daughter was allegedly forced to take another dosage of the lymphatic filariasis pills in school just days after she had taken it at a community program organised by the Ministry of Health.

The administration of the lymphatic filariasis drug in schools and in the communities have been, no doubt, successful in a span of just one week, however, the rushing of the campaign which is scheduled to be concluded on Sunday has put pressure on the staff to get their numbers up.

This has led to some not following the proper channel when administering the drugs to children at school including the use of consent forms.

Earlier on Friday, a concerned parent who did not want to be named contacted this newspaper and shared her disappointment when her daughter was allegedly overdosed at school and without her consent.

She explained that the staff with the Ministry of Health (M.O.H.) who are carrying out the administration of the drug visited the Seventh Day Adventist Primary School and put pressure on the school to carry out the administration on the spot when the other parents including herself were not informed.

Samoa Observer visited the school and interviewed the school principal, Taala Tepora Fuimaono who confirmed the incident and said she was also at fault for having allowed the staff to carry out the administration when the rest of the other parents were not informed.

It is believed that there were more than one student who took the dosage twice because they had already taken their drugs earlier in the week without the consent of their parents.

"They came on Wednesday first and asked if they could carry out the administration of the drugs in the school without informing us or me beforehand so I could advise the parents of that," she said.

"But I banned them when they came again on Thursday and told us they need to carry it out this week because all administrations close this coming Sunday.

"I agreed because I was thinking of the importance of the drug for the kids without thinking of the other side of things, getting the parents' consent which is paramount."

According to principal Taala, she banned and stopped the administration on Thursday a while after they started when some parents had a heated exchange with the M.O.H staff because of the way the administration was carried out.

"I am not aware of a single particular case but I do understand what the parents were arguing with the staff on similar issues and that's why I stopped them and told them to go," she added.

"I admit that I am also at fault for allowing them to carry out the administration but again, I was thinking of the safety of the kids and how important this drug is for them."

One of the parents, Sisi Tavui Fia said her five-year-old daughter is one of the victims and stressed that it was not only one or two students who overdosed but more.

"I was here yesterday and I am one of the parents who was really angry yesterday. When we got here to pick up our kids, they had already taken their drugs without our consents," she told this newspaper.

"I even saw one of the parents beating up her kid because the kid had already taken the drug earlier this week in their village and she took it again here at the school all because of how this was carried out.

"It's really disappointing because these are primary school students. They might also have serious side effects to the drug or have other illnesses that they are not aware of but they just make them drink the drug which of course the kids are going to do because they don't know anything."

Samoa Observer contacted the Acting Director General of Health, Atoa Dr. Glenn Fatupaito and he said he was not aware of the issue at the time of correspondence but said he will look into it with the person in charge of the campaign and provide a response when he can.

Meanwhile, students of the SDA primary school are not the only victims of the campaign as people in Savaii have also been made to take the dosage twice or being given the wrong dosage.

A Congregational Christian Church Samoa (C.C.C.S.) minister in Safune in Savaii is one of those given extra medication. He was given eight Ivermectin Tablets (3mg), eight DEC Tablets (100mg), and one Albendazole Tablet (400mg).

Because he weighs 75kg, he was supposed to get tablets to the ratio 5:5:1 but instead was given 8:8:1.

Meanwhile, this particular incident was reported to the Director General of Health who is currently out of the country, Aiono Prof. Dr. Alec Ekeroma who apologised and admitted to the overdose.

"The doses are in the registration books which stare them in the face and then there has been training," Aiono responded.

"So it should be a rare occurrence.

"The degree of overdose is most likely to cause harm but he will need to report any unwanted symptoms."

Meanwhile, those students who took the extra dose have been absent from school complaining about headaches and dizziness.