NEW DELHI: To accelerate India's efforts to combat anaemia, the centre on Monday launched revised guidelines, which for the first-time includes zero to six month old low-weight babies as a new beneficiary group.
The ‘Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan,’ whose operational guidelines were launched by Union Health Minister JP Nadda on Monday, has now adopted the T4 Strategy - Test, Treat, Talk and Track – with the aim to strengthen screening, follow-up and continuum of care to battle this growing public health challenge in the country.
The Anaemia Mukt Bharat, which has transitioned to Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan, aims to go beyond supplementation to include testing, therapeutic management, eating right and community involvement through 'Jan Chetna.'
The guidelines expand the existing 6x6x6 strategy into a 7x7x7 framework, adding a seventh beneficiary group, a seventh intervention, and a seventh institutional mechanism.
Low Birth Weight (LBW) babies (0–6 months) have been included as the seventh beneficiary group, recognizing that breaking the intergenerational cycle of anaemia must begin at the earliest. Earlier, children six months and above were covered under the initiative.
The 147-page guideline states that all and any anaemia-linked intervention for this category will be exclusively managed based on paediatrician/specialist advice which remains essential and mandatory.
The "Eating Right" approach- promoting conscious consumption of iron-rich and diversified diets as a daily habit - has been introduced as the seventh intervention.
A strengthened monitoring and evaluation framework for digital tracking forms is the seventh institutional mechanism.
For anaemia management of severe and non-responders among pregnant and lactating women, Intravenous Iron Therapy (FCM and Iron sucrose) is included as a clinical intervention.
The revised guidelines establish a robust digital ecosystem for tracking anaemia services. Haemoglobin testing records for pregnant women will be mapped through the JANANI portal, children's records through the RBSK and U-WIN portal, all converging into a unified Anaemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan Portal for comprehensive analysis and planning.
From beneficiary screening and counselling to treatment and follow-up, the entire continuum of care will now be digitally tracked and made available through the portal.
The revised AMB Abhiyaan emphasizes convergence of anaemia testing and structured counselling to enhance programme efficiency, feasibility, and impact.
By integrating point-of-care hemoglobin testing with immediate counselling on diet, Iron Folic Acid-compliance, deworming, and follow-up care, the strategy translates screening into actionable health-seeking behaviour and therapeutic adherence.
The launch also marks the rollout of ‘Jan Bhagidari’ a nationwide community mobilisation effort aimed at transforming the passive acceptance of anaemia into active engagement of individuals, families, and communities across India to de-normalise anaemia.
Officials said collectively, the interventions under the revised initiative are expected to accelerate the reduction in anaemia prevalence across the lifecycle, improve maternal and child health outcomes, and contribute to reductions in the Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) and Maternal Mortality Ratio (MMR), thus reaffirming the government's continued commitment to strengthening nutrition and maternal and child health and accelerating progress towards an Anaemia Mukt Bharat.
Anaemia is a condition in which the number and size of red blood cells, or the hemoglobin (Hb) concentration falls below an established cut-off value, consequently impairing the capacity of the blood to transport oxygen around the body.
It is categorised as mild, moderate and severe anaemia based on the haemoglobin levels specified for different ages and sexes.
The manifestations of anaemia are varied in severity, ranging from fatigue, weakness, dizziness and drowsiness to increased morbidity.
As per the WHO report on Global Prevalence of Anaemia 2011, approximately 50% of the cases of anaemia are considered to be due to iron deficiency, with variation among population groups and in different geographical areas, according to the local conditions.
Causes of anaemia also include other micronutrient deficiencies like folate, riboflavin, Vitamin A and Vitamin B12; acute and chronic infections like malaria, cancer, tuberculosis and HIV; inherited or acquired disorders that affect hemoglobin synthesis, red blood cell production or red blood cell survival like hemoglobinopathies.