Himachal Pradesh is showing a steady trend of decline in the anemia which is evident from Anemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Index, 2020-2021 national rankings. The state has secured third position with a score of 57.1 as per the rating, said an official spokesman.
On this score card, Himachal Pradesh was at 18th rank in the year 2018-2019 but with consistent efforts of the Government this rank has been improved to third in the 2020-21 AMB index, the spokesman said. He said that anemia prevention and control has been the priority agenda of State Government. The government is working with various strategies under Prime Minister's Overarching Scheme for Holistic Nourishment (POSHAN) Abhiyan and targets have been setup to reduce anemia.
The program covers the age groups of children 6 to 59 months, adolescents and women of reproductive age 15 to 49 years.
The Anemia Mukt Bharat aims to provide preventive and curative mechanisms through a 6×6×6 strategy including six target beneficiaries, six interventions and six institutional mechanisms, for all stakeholders to implement the strategy. The strategy emphasizes on improving supply chain, targeted monitoring and continuous social mobilization using various channels of communication, the spokesmans said.
He said that prophylactic iron and folic acid supplementation is also being given to women and children.
With the regular deworming of the school going children being done by the state, the prevalence of Soil Transmitted Helminths has decreased from 29 percent to 0.3 percent in a short span of 3 years indicating the effectiveness and implementation of the programme, he said.
The spokesman further said that intensified year-round Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Campaign, testing of anemia and point of care treatment and mandatory provision of Iron and Folic Acid fortified foods in government funded health programmes has been made for addressing non-nutritional causes of anemia.
This comprehensive strategy is expected to yield positive results in decreasing anemia prevalence. The score card and rankings in the Anemia Mukt Bharat Index are based on certain parameters like coverage of IFA supplementation across selected target beneficiaries to support assessment of progress and performance of the programme, he said.
Almost 50 percent of the pregnant women, 59 percent of children under five years of age, 54 percent of adolescent girls and 53 percent of non-pregnant non-lactating women of the country are anemic, he added.