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To check the incidence of anaemia in adolescents, especially girls the state government will launch Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation Programme (WIFS) in nine districts across the state.
Under the programme, schoolchildren and their teachers will consume iron tablets every week. Under WIFS, the target groups will be given tablets comprising 100 micrograms (mg) elemental Iron and 500 mg of folic acid. Department of Primary and Secondary Education will distribute these capsules.
The programme is meant for boys and girls aged between 10 and 19, said Joint Director (Medical) of Department of Health and Family Welfare Dr B V Karur. “It will be rolled out in schools and anganwadi centres.”
The WIFS will involve the Department of Health and Family Welfare, the Department of Education and the Department of Women and Child Development.
Dr Karur also said that the programmes is currently in its assessment stage. “It will be implemented in the nine districts which have the Sabla programme,” he added.
Sabla programme was started by Ministry of Women and Child Development and aims to empower out-ofschool adolescent girls (between 11 and 18 years) by improving their health status and upgrading their skills.
Screening of target groups for moderate/severe anaemia and referring these cases to an appropriate health facility, deworming using Albendazole (400 mg) every six months to control infection caused by helminth will also be part of the supplementation programme.
About 2,316 children between the age groups of 6 and 15 years across the state are anaemic, according to Health Department statistics.
Most of these children are from Chikkballapura, Chitradurga, Davangere and Bagalkot.
According to these statistics, the total number of anaemia cases detected across the state has been reduced by 23.69 per cent as compared to last year. Also, there has been 87.87 per cent increase in the number of anaemia cases in Bangalore (Urban) alone.
Dr Latha Jagannathan, Medical Director of TTK Rotary Blood Bank, told Express, “The programme is crucial for girls especially. Anaemic adolescent girls grow up to face problems during pregnancy. The child when born, can have stunted physical and mental development.”
She added that anaemia supplementation programmes for pregnant women have been a challenge because of a myth that iron tablets tend to darken the skin colour of the child.
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