What is Anemia Mukt Bharat?

The Anemia Mukt Bharat- intensified Iron-plus Initiative aims to strengthen the existing mechanisms and foster newer strategies for tackling anemia.

Anaemia Mukt Bharat is a public health scheme launched by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
and UNICEF.

Anaemia Mukt Bharat was first launched as National Nutritional Anaemia Prophylaxis Programme (NNAPP) in 1970 and relaunched in 2018 as part of the POSHAN Abhiyan.

It focusses on six target beneficiary groups, through six interventions and six institutional mechanisms to achieve the envisaged target under the POSHAN Abhiyan.

What are the objectives of Anaemia Mukt Bharat?

The reduction of anemia is one of the important objectives of the POSHAN Abhiyaan launched in March 2018. Complying with the targets of POSHAN Abhiyaan and National Nutrition Strategy set by NITI Aayog, the Anemia Mukt Bharat strategy has been designed to reduce prevalence of anemia by 3 percentage points per year among children, adolescents and women in the reproductive age group (15–49 years), between the year 2018 and 2022.

Who are the six beneficiaries under Anaemia Mukt Bharat?

The strategy is estimated to reach out to 450 million beneficiaries.

The Anemia Mukt Bharat strategy will be implemented in all villages, blocks, and districts of all the States/UTs of India through existing delivery platforms as envisaged in the National Iron Plus Initiative (NIPI) and Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) programme.

What are the six interventions under Anaemia Mukt Bharat?

What is Anaemia?

Anemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells or their oxygen-carrying capacity is insufficient to meet the body’s physiological requirements, which vary by age, sex, altitude, smoking habits, and during pregnancy.

What are the various manifestations of anemia?

The manifestations of anemia vary by its severity and range from fatigue, weakness, dizziness and drowsiness to impaired cognitive development of children and increased morbidity.

Anemia in pregnancy is associated with post-partum haemorrhage, neural tube defects, low birth weight, premature births, stillbirths and maternal deaths. In malaria endemic regions, anemia is one of the most common preventable causes of maternal and child deaths. In its most severe form, anemia can also lead to death.

What are the causes of anemia?

There are many causes of anemia, out of which iron deficiency accounts for about 50 percent of anemia in school children and among women of reproductive age-group, and 80 percent in children 2–5 years of age.

Other nutritional deficiencies besides iron, such as vitamin B12, folate and vitamin A, can cause anemia although the magnitude of their contribution is unclear.

Infectious diseases – in particular malaria, helminth infections, tuberculosis and haemoglobinopathies – are other important contributory causes to the high prevalence of anemia.

What is the prevalence rate of anemia in India?

According to the National Family Health Survey 4 (NFHS-4), 2015/16, anemia prevalence across all ages is extremely high in India; varying from 30 percent to 69 percent. It is also to be noted that in the last 10 years (NFHS-3, 2005/06 to NFHS-4, 2015/16), the percentage point reduction of anemia prevalence has been extremely low in most age groups.

PRACTICE QUESTIONS

QUES . Consider the following statements in the context of interventions being undertaken under Anaemia Mukt Bharat Strategy: UPSC PRELIMS 2023

1 . It provides prophylactic calcium supplementation for pre-school children, adolescents and
pregnant women.

2 . It runs a campaign for delayed cord clamping at the time of child-birth.

3 . It provides for periodic deworming to children and adolescents.

4 . It addresses non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis.

How many of the statements given above are correct?

(a) Only one

(b) Only two

(c) Only three

(d) All four

Show Answer