REPORT OF ANAEMIC CHILDREN IN INDIA

Prelims level : Governance- Schemes Mains level : GS-II Issues relating to development and management of Social Sector or Services relating to Health, Education, Human Resources
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Why in News?

  • The Government has informed Lok Sabha about the prevalence of Anaemia among women and children in urban and Rural India.

About the News:

  • The data, based on the findings of the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) IV (2015-16), divide the incidence of anaemia into ‘Mild’, ‘Moderate’ and ‘Severe’ kinds for both rural and urban India.
  • As many as 58.5% of children between the ages of 6 months and 59 months, and 53.1% of women between the ages of 15 and 49 years, are anaemic in the country.
  • As per the given by the government, 29.8% of children in rural India suffer from moderate anaemia, and 40.3% of women in the villages are mildly Anaemic.

What is Anaemia?

  • According to WHO Anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or their oxygen-carrying capacity is insufficient to meet physiologic needs, which vary by age, sex, altitude, smoking, and Pregnancy Status.

Government’s Initiative:

  • The union government had, launched the “Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Strategy under POSHAN Abhiyan in 2018 with the aim to reduce anaemia prevalence by three percentage points every year till 2022”.

 About Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB):

  • In 2018, the union government launched the Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Strategy under POSHAN Abhiyan to reduce anaemia prevalence by three percentage points every year till 2022.
  • AMB is a 6x6x6 strategy that is targeting six age groups, with six interventions and six institutional mechanisms.
  • The six age groups include pre-school children (6-59 months), children (5-9 years), adolescent girls (10-19 years), adolescent boys (10-19 years), women of reproductive age group (15-49), and pregnant women and lactating mothers.
  • Among the six interventions is prophylactic iron folic acid supplementation, periodic deworming, and addressing non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets, with special focus on malaria, haemoglobinopathies and fluorosis, the Minister said.
  • Institutional mechanisms include a National Anaemia Mukt Bharat Unit, and a National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Anaemia Control.
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