New Delhi, Oct 29 (PTI) The Union health ministry willlaunch an intensive awareness campaign on anemia, especiallyamong adolescent population of the country.
It is also planning to strengthen its adolescent healthprogramme --the Rashtriya Kishor Swasthya Karyakram (RKSK)—tomake it more prevention-centric and monitorable.
Speaking on the sidelines of the 11th World Congress onAdolescent Health organised by the International Associationfor Adolescent Health (IAAH) here, Ajay Khera, DeputyCommissioner (Adolescent Health), complained that not much hasimproved under the anemia control strategy and that "anemiacontinues to be a serious issue among adolescents".
"One reason identified for this is that the programme wasnot being monitored," he said.
The ministry will now monitor its weekly Iron FolicSupplementation (WIFS) programme on IT-platforms. Also, thefocus of the Intensified School Health Activity (ISHA) underthe RKSK programme will now be on prevention and promotionrather than clinical treatment.
These decisions were taken during a review meeting onRKSK, where it was decided that schools should be made theplatforms for implementing adolescent health programmes since60 per cent of the adolescents in the country are now inschools and the percentage is increasing, Khera said.
The RKSK is implemented at the facility, school andcommunity level.
At present, students are screened in schools and thenreferred to health facilities under the Rashtriya Bal SwasthyaKaryakram (RBSK) for early detection of diseases, particularlythe non-communicable diseases (NCDs).
A Saathiya Toolkit under the community peer educationprogramme was also launched at the World Congress on Friday.
The toolkit, available in physical and electronicversions, focuses on six broad themes of the RKSK such asNCDs, self-rated health (SRH), injuries and violence,nutrition, substance abuse and mental health.
Sunil Mehra, Executive Director, MAMTA Health Institutefor Mother and Child said, "We need to intervene early andcontinue with age-specific programming till adolescents turninto young adults."Mehra was also awarded Lifetime Achievement Award by theInternational Association of Adolescent Health at theconference.
A survey on 'Understanding the Lives of Adolescents andYoung Adults (UDAYA)' by the Population Council on youngadolescents (10-14 years) in Uttar Pradesh (1,961 boys andgirls) and Bihar (1,776 boys and girls) suggested that only1 per cent of boys and girls knew about RKSK.
"Only one-third of the girls knew about sanitary napkinsprogramme though only 10 per cent received their benefits.
Only 22-24 per cent of boys and girls received healthservices/information at schools but almost all knew aboutanganwadi workers and 56-66 per cent knew about ASHA. Only 4-7per cent of the boys and girls received health servicesprovided by ASHAs and anganwadis," it said.
The survey also said that close to 2.4 millionadolescents in these two states inflicted self-harm, 1.9million showed symptoms of depression and 0.4 million had evenconsidered suicide, and many had a worrying mental healthcondition.
Most girls reported using pieces of cloth duringmenstruation, while half of those who did not use sanitarynapkins could not afford one, and a quarter was not aware ofsuch napkins, it said.
"A significant minority reported sexual and reproductivehealth problems with more boys than girls reporting a problem– one in 6 vs one in 10. Boys are three times more likelycompared to girls to seek treatment, with private facilitybeing the preferred choice," the study added. PTI PLBSRY.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.