Odisha school students to get iron, folic acid tablets at doorstep during summer vacation

By Sukant Mohanty

Bhubaneswar, April 27: The Odisha government has decided to address the issue of anaemia in school children by supplying iron and folic acid (IFA) tablets to students during the summer vacation under the Anemia Mukta Lakhsya Abhiyan (AMLAN) programme.

Students of all government and government-aided schools in the state will avail these tablets.

According to a notification issued by the school and mass education (S&ME) department, the students of Class 1 to 12 will be given IFA tablets from April 19 to June 16, 2023.

“The students from Class 1 to 12 of government and government-aided schools need to be provided with prophylactic doses (one IFA tablet weekly on Monday) during the summer vacation. The school teachers are requested to distribute IFA tablets (eight IFA tablets) for each student during summer vacation as per the prophylactic applicability,” the notification issued by the S&ME department read.

While IFA (Pink) tablet will be distributed to Class 1 to 5 students, IFA (Blue) tablet is meant for the students of Class 6 to 12.

“The IFA tablets must be handed over to the parents at the doorstep after verifying the expiry date of the tablets. Expired tablets should not be distributed. If IFA tablets are expired then it should be returned to the health facility,” the notification stated.

“Each student (only for Prophylactic cases) must consume one IFA tablet every Monday after lunch/dinner in presence of their parent/guardian along with a glass of drinking water. Where ever possible, the SMC should monitor the consumption of IFA tablets by the school children at home during this summer vacation and also guide them if necessary,” the letter read further.

According to Dr Ashok Acharya, IFA is a combination drug that is primarily used to treat anaemia. It works by boosting the production of red blood cells (RBC) in the body. As a result, an adequate number of RBCs are produced in the body and each tissue gets adequate supply of oxygen.