Chhattisgarh

• 10 Jan 2023

Chhattisgarh Ranks Third in the Country in Anemia Free India Campaign

Why In News?

• According to the information given by the Chhattisgarh Public Relations Department on January 9, 2023, Chhattisgarh ranks third in the country in providing IFA (Iron Folic Acid) supplementation to children, adolescents, pregnant and lactating women under the Anemia Free India Campaign. Only Andhra Pradesh and Maharashtra are ahead of Chhattisgarh in the entire country.

Key Points

• Under the Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyan, children from six months to 19 years and pregnant and lactating women are given IFA supplements. Iron and folic acid syrup are provided to young children and tablets to pregnant and lactating women by Mitanins. Along with this, children are given IFA medicines in schools.
• It is worth mentioning that the government of India issues a score card of IFA supplementation in all states and union territories every month under the Anemia Free India Campaign. The Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has recently released the report of IFA supplementation across the country in the months of July, August and September. According to this, Chhattisgarh has been consistently ranked third in the country in these months.
• Dr. VR Bhagat, State Nodal Officer of Anemia Free India Program, said that Chhattisgarh is consistently leading in IFA supplementation to overcome anemia, leaving behind many big states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, West Bengal, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu. Occupies the third position. This campaign has picked up pace in the state in the last few months. By June-2022, Chhattisgarh was at the sixth position in the country.
• According to the state-wise statistics of IFA supplementation released by the Government of India till September-2022, IFA supplementation has been given to 66.4 percent of children aged six months to 59 months in Chhattisgarh and 71.5 percent children aged five to nine years in Chhattisgarh. During this period, 74.6 percent children and adolescents in the age group of 10 to 19 years, 95 percent pregnant women and 61.6 percent lactating mothers have been given IFA supplements. Taking all these groups together, the overall score of IFA supplementation in Chhattisgarh is 73.8 percent.