Pop the pill when anganwadi worker is watching

BHUBANESWAR: Pop the pill - that’s the new mantra. With adolescent anaemia continuing to contribute significantly to maternal mortality in the KBK region despite a programme in place, the State Government has decided to revise the guidelines to bring in the results. Now the beneficiaries will have to take the pill in front of an anganwadi worker. The latest operational guidelines issued by the Women and Child Development Department stipulates that the adolescent girls will have to consume the iron folic acid (IFA) tablets in the presence of an anganwadi worker so that the compliance report can be filed then and there. The Department has shot off a letter to the Collectors asking them to instruct all the Child Development Project Officers (CDPOs) to organise meetings every Saturday (or on a market day) at the anganwadi centres so that beneficiaries can consume the supplements before the health worker. According to National Family Health Survey III, prevalence of anaemia among adolescent girls (in the age group of 15-19 years) is very high in Orissa, standing at a staggering 61.4 per cent as against the national average of 55.8 per cent. The Census 2011 puts the number of adolescent girls in Orissa at 37.8 lakh going by which there are 23.2 lakh anaemic females in the State.   What is worse, a recent study by the Regional Medical Research Centre (RMRC), Bhubaneswar, has revealed that anaemia among girls in the 11-19 years group is as high as 96.5 per cent. Anaemia among women leads to maternal mortality, weakened mental capacity and increased morbidity from infectious diseases. Children of mothers, who have anaemia, are much more likely to be anaemic. The State, which for long battled maternal and infant mortality, launched the Adolescent Anaemia Control Programme (AACP) last year in nine KBK districts but its outcome was mixed because of the poor response from the beneficiaries. This has prompted the State Government to effect changes in the norms and bring in the girls to anganwadi centres to streamline the system, official sources said. The Department has also asked the districts to enrol all the adolescent girls so that a register can be prepared facilitating monitoring of the programme. The Collectors have been asked to form core committees, which will meet every quarter, to review progress of the programme. Compliance reports from each CDPO will have to be sent to the Director of Social Welfare as well as CDMOs so that stock-taking could be made easy.