Health Ministry organizes 'Test and Treat' awareness camp on anemia

The month of September 2018 has been declared as ‘PoshanMaah’ with the objective to reach every household with the message of nutrition.

A ‘Test and Treat’ camp for anemia has been organized at Nirman Bhawan for ten days. The objective of this camp is to generate awareness in the community regarding anemia. Facilities of hemoglobin testing and nutrition counseling will be provided at the camps by National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Anemia (NCEAR-A). Nutrition counselors from National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Diets (NCEAR-D, Lady Irwin College) and Centre for acute malnutrition (Kalawati Saran Children’s Hospital) will also provide nutrition counseling to the participants. People identified to be mild/moderate anemic will be provided oral IFA supplementation and counseling; and those found to be severely anemic will be referred for management at higher centers.

SmtPreeti Sudan, Secretary (Health), inaugurated the Anemia Test & Treat camps at Nirman Bhawan today, in presence of Shri ManojJhalani AS&MD (NHM) and Smt VandanaGurnani, Joint Secretary. The camps are being organized as part of ‘Poshan Mah’ being observed during the month of September.

The month of September 2018 has been declared as ‘PoshanMaah’ with the objective to reach every household with the message of nutrition. This is a multi-sectoral convergence activity by various Ministries and departments and various activities are to be carried out from National to village level. The key stakeholder's Ministries are MoWCD, MoHFW, MoRD, MoHRD, and MoDW&S. The audience of this Jan Andolan strategy is people among whom change is intended, those who influence primary participants to adopt change and those who create a supportive environment.

A total of 10 priority themes have been identified to improve health and nutrition in the community and these are (a) antenatal care (b) optimal breastfeeding (c) complementary feeding (d) full immunization and vitamin A supplementation (e) anemia prevention control (f) growth monitoring (g) food fortification (h) diarrhea management (i) girl education and age of marriage (j) hygiene, sanitation and safe drinking water.

In order to convey the above thematic messages, various platforms are to be utilized. These platforms could be in the form of engaging celebrity, influencers and local leaders, Village Health and Nutrition Day, gram sabha, community-based events, nukkadnatak, wall paintings, television, radio beside conducting meetings, seminars and workshops and home visits to families with newborn.

As per the action plan proposed by MoHFW, it has been decided that AIIMS, New Delhi along with six regional AIIMS (Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha, Bihar, Chhattisgarh, Uttarakhand) will be carrying out test and treat anemia campaign in their field practice with support of State Government and UNICEF, focused on Women of Reproductive Age (15-49 years) and under-five children.

The month-long campaign will be undertaken in collaboration with the State health system under the National Health Mission.

(With inputs from PIB)