CM Naveen Patnaik launches AMLAN to reduce anaemia in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: To make Odisha anaemia free, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik launched AMLAN- Anaemia Mukta Lakhya Abhiyan on Wednesday. The mission is expected to benefit over 1.37 Crore people in the state.

It is a multipronged approach for accelerated reduction of anaemia among targeted groups.

The programme will be carried out by several departments including Health & Family Welfare, School & Mass Education, Women & Child Development, Mission Shakti, and ST & SC Development Department.

Terming the mission a giant leap, the CM urged that it’s our own programme for making the state free from anaemia, especially women and children.

Launching the programme on a virtual platform, the Chief Minister said, “The programme will benefit about 1.37 Crore people, which includes pregnant women, lactating mothers, women of reproductive age group, adolescents and children.”

Adding further he said that the major interventions are strengthening iron and folic acid supplementation, testing for haemoglobin, treatment of anaemic cases, capacity building of service providers, and social behaviour change communication.

The programme will be rolled out in 55,000 government and government-aided schools and 74,000 Anganwadi Centres across the State, he informed.

With an intensive focus on public health schemes, Odisha has shown improvement in many health indicators like Immunisation, Infant Mortality Rate, Maternal Mortality Ratio, infant and young child feeding practices, and under-nutrition.

However, anaemia remains a major public health challenge across the country, he added.

Patnaik urged the concerned departments and on-field service providers to work in a concerted manner for the successful implementation of AMLAN for achieving Anaemia Mukta Odisha.

He also released the Operational Guidelines for AMLAN.