Lok Sabha Question No. 654 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2022-12-09
Subject: Cases of Anaemia
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Kamlesh  Paswan, Maneka Sanjay Gandhi

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

## LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION No. 654 TO BE ANSWERED ON 9 th  DECEMBER 2022

## CASES OF ANAEMIA

## 654. SHRI KAMLESH PASWAN: SHRIMATI MANEKA SANJAY GANDHI:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware of fact regarding the growing cases of anaemia among the children and women in the country;
- (b)  if  so,  the  steps  taken/being  taken  to  curb  the  disease  along  with  the  initiatives  taken  to address the issue of adolescence anaemia, as noted by the National Nutritional Survey;
- (c) whether the Government is planning to increase the target coverage of the Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementations (WIFS) for out of school girls vis-a-vis from the current targets, if so, the details thereof;
- (d)  whether  the  Government proposes to add the National Anaemia Awareness Day in the List of National Health Programme and if so, the details thereof; and
- (e) the details of the number of health clinics and counsellors for adolescent in the country, State/UT-wise?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (DR. BHARATI PRAVIN PAWAR)

- (a) As per National Family Health Survey-5 (NFHS-5, 2019-21), the prevalence of anaemia is 67.1 percent in children aged 6-59 months and the prevalence of anaemia is 57 percent in women aged 15-49 years in the country.
- (b)    In  2018,  the  Government  of  India  has  launched  the  Anaemia  Mukt  Bharat  (AMB) strategy under POSHAN Abhiyaan with the target for reducing anaemia in women, children

and  adolescents  in  life  cycle  approach.  The  strategy  aims  to  cover  children  6-59  months, children  5-9  years,  adolescents  10-19  years,  women  of  reproductive  age  (15-49  years), pregnant women and lactating women through newer interventions implemented via robust institutional  mechanisms.  The  details  of  the  steps  taken  by  the  Government  to  address  the problem of anaemia is provided at Annexure I.

The AMB strategy also address the issue of adolescence anaemia, as noted by the National Nutritional Survey.

(c) Targets are set up by the State/UT Government for coverage of Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) for out of school girls.

(d) There is no proposal to add the National Anaemia Awareness Day in the List of National Health Programme.

(e)  There  are  7714  Adolescent  Friendly  Health  Clinics  and  1870  Adolescent  Health Counsellors  in  the  country  as  on  September  2022.  The  State  and  UT  wise  number  of Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics and number of Adolescent Health Counsellors is attached at Annexure II.

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## Annexure I

## Details of the steps taken by the Government to address the problem of anaemia

- i. Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation in all six target age groups-
- ii. Intensified year-round Behaviour Change Communication (BCC) Campaign for: (a) improving  compliance  to  Iron  Folic  Acid  supplementation  and  deworming,  (b) enhancing  appropriate  infant  and  young  child  feeding  practices,  (c)  encouraging increase in  intake  of  iron-rich  food  through  diet  diversity/quantity/frequency  and/or fortified foods with focus on harnessing locally available resources, and (d) ensuring delayed cord clamping after delivery (by 3 minutes) in health facilities
- iii. Testing and treatment of anaemia, using digital methods and point of care treatment, with special focus on pregnant women and school-going adolescents
- iv. Addressing non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis
- v. Providing incentives to the ANM for identification and follow-up of pregnant women with severe anaemia in high priority districts (HPDs)
- vi. Management of severe anaemia in pregnant women is done by administration of IV Iron Sucrose/Blood transfusion
- vii. Awareness by ASHAs through community mobilization activities and IEC and BCC activities.
- viii. Convergence  and  coordination  with  other  line departments  and  ministries for strengthening implementation
- ix. National Centre of Excellence and Advanced  Research on Anaemia  Control (NCEAR-A) at AIIMS, Delhi in capacity building of health care providers
- x. Development of AMB Training Toolkit for capacity building of health care providers in  anaemia  management  and  AMB  e-Training  Modules  are  developed  to  facilitate training of the health care providers through virtual platform.

Weekly  Iron  and  Folic  Acid  Supplementation (WIFS)  programme  entails  provision  of weekly supervised IFA tablets to the in-school adolescent boys and girls and out-of-school adolescent girls along with biannual albendazole tablets for helminthic control for prevention of iron and folic acid deficiency anaemia.  The programme is implemented across the country in  both  rural  and  urban  areas,  covering  government,  government  aided,  municipal  schools and  Anganwadi  Centres.  Screening  of  targeted  adolescent  population  for  moderate/  severe anaemia  and  referral  of  these  cases  to  an  appropriate  health  facility;  information  & counselling for prevention of  nutritional anaemia are also included in the programme. The programme  is  implemented  through  convergence  with  key  stakeholder  ministries-  the Ministry  of  Women  and  Child  Development  and  Department  and  the  Ministry  of  Human Resource Development, with joint programme planning, capacity building and communication activities.

## Annexure II

## State/ UT wise details for Number of Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics and Number of dedicated Adolescent Health Counsellors as on 30 th Sept 2022

|   S. No. | State / UT             |   No of Adolescent Friendly Health Clinics established |   No of dedicated Adolescent Health Counsellors |
|----------|------------------------|--------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | A&N Islands            |                                                     27 |                                               0 |
|        2 | Andhra Pradesh         |                                                   1404 |                                              31 |
|        3 | Arunachal Pradesh      |                                                     31 |                                               8 |
|        4 | Assam                  |                                                     54 |                                              63 |
|        5 | Bihar                  |                                                    203 |                                               0 |
|        6 | Chandigarh             |                                                     20 |                                               0 |
|        7 | Chhattisgarh           |                                                    305 |                                               0 |
|        8 | D&N Haveli &Daman &Diu |                                                     20 |                                               4 |
|        9 | Delhi                  |                                                     31 |                                               0 |
|       10 | Goa                    |                                                     33 |                                              25 |
|       11 | Gujarat                |                                                    727 |                                              57 |
|       12 | Haryana                |                                                    208 |                                              66 |
|       13 | Himachal Pradesh       |                                                     99 |                                              18 |
|       14 | Jammu& Kashmir         |                                                     45 |                                              73 |
|       15 | Jharkhand              |                                                    207 |                                              27 |
|       16 | Karnataka              |                                                    517 |                                             204 |
|       17 | Kerala                 |                                                     90 |                                              30 |
|       18 | Ladakh                 |                                                      4 |                                               7 |
|       19 | Lakshadweep            |                                                      0 |                                               0 |
|       20 | Madhya Pradesh         |                                                    102 |                                             102 |
|       21 | Maharashtra            |                                                    837 |                                             132 |
|       22 | Manipur                |                                                    113 |                                              15 |
|       23 | Meghalaya              |                                                    122 |                                              21 |
|       24 | Mizoram                |                                                     50 |                                               6 |
|       25 | Nagaland               |                                                     36 |                                               6 |
|       26 | Odisha                 |                                                    236 |                                               0 |
|       27 | Puducherry             |                                                     54 |                                               0 |
|       28 | Punjab                 |                                                    219 |                                               0 |
|       29 | Rajasthan              |                                                    330 |                                              70 |
|       30 | Sikkim                 |                                                     27 |                                               4 |
|       31 | Tamil Nadu             |                                                    442 |                                               0 |
|       32 | Telangana              |                                                    150 |                                              16 |
|       33 | Tripura                |                                                     41 |                                              16 |
|       34 | Uttar Pradesh          |                                                    344 |                                              78 |
|       35 | Uttarakhand            |                                                     81 |                                             328 |
|       36 | West Bengal            |                                                    505 |                                             463 |