About the programme

• The Anemia Mukt Bharat is an initiative of the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and UNICEF to reduce the prevalence of Anemia all over India. 
• It follows a 6X6X6 strategy (six target beneficiary groups, through six interventions and six institutional mechanisms) to reduce prevalence of anemia by 3 percentage points per year.

• • Six population groups under AMB:
    • Children (6-59 months)
    • Children (5-9 years)
    • Adolescents girls and boys (10-19 years)
    • Pregnant women
    • Lactating women
    • Women of Reproductive Age (WRA) group (15-49 years)
  • Six interventions:
    • Prophylactic Iron and Folic Acid supplementation
    • Deworming
    • Intensified year-round Behaviour Change Communication Campaign including ensuring delayed cord clamping in newborns
    • Testing of anemia using digital methods and point of care treatment
    • Mandatory provision of Iron and Folic Acid fortified foods in government-funded health programmes
    • Addressing non-nutritional causes of anemia in endemic pockets, with special focus on malaria, haemoglobinopathies and fluorosis

• Six institutional mechanisms:

• • Intra-Ministerial Coordination
  • National Anemia Mukt Bharat Unit
  • National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Anemia Control 
  • Convergence with other Ministries
  • Strengthening Supply Chain and Logistics
  • Anemia Mukt Bharat Dashboard and Digital Portal – One-Stop Shop on Anemia

Why in News?

• The prevalence of anaemia among six groups as per the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019-21), is 25.0 percent in men (15-49 years) and 57.0 percent in women (15-49 years). 31.1 percent in adolescent boys (15-19 yrs), 59.1 percent in adolescent girls,52.2 percent in pregnant women (15-49 years) and 67.1percent in children (6-59 months).
• The measures taken by the Government to make AMB programme more effective are:
  • working with other line departments and ministries for strengthening implementation;
  • engaging National Centre of Excellence and Advanced Research on Anaemia Control (NCEAR-A) at AIIMS, Delhi in capacity building of health care providers;
  • strengthening supply chain and logistics;
  • development of AMB Training Toolkit for capacity building of health care providers in anaemia management and recent launch of Anaemia Mukt Bharat e-Training Modules to facilitate training of the health care providers through virtual platform amid COVID 19 pandemic which has posed a challenge in capacity building through physical trainings.

Reference:

1. https://pib.gov.in/PressReleasePage.aspx?PRID=1795421