KARUR: A study recently conducted by the district administration of Karur found about 45% of girl students between Classes 9 and 12 in the district to be anaemic. Among them, 3% were diagnosed with severe anaemia, 20.5% with moderate anaemia, and 21.8% had mild anaemia.
A total of 17,740 school-going girls from 175 schools were tested for anaemia with the consent of their parents as part of the study carried out under the ‘Uthiram Uyarthuvom’ programme. Special camps were conducted in the 175 schools with assistance from the Karur Government Medical College Hospital, the seven government hospitals here and the 16 laboratories in the eight community health centres.
Karur collector Dr T Prabhushankar, who released a report said, “The Uthiram Uyarthuvom programme was launched to treat anaemia among adolescent girls of Classes 9 to 12. It was implemented in Karur district after extensive meetings and workshops which saw the participation of officials and parents.”
Soon after the test result was out, the girl students diagnosed with severe anaemia were referred to Karur GMCH for medical examination, the collector said. A total of 520 female students were identified with various health problems. Of them, the condition of 121 students are being monitored, the collector added.
“Nine more students have been given intravenous iron and blood transfusion,” said Prabhushankar, adding, a special nutritional fund has been provided to the severely affected and they have been examined at the Karur GMCH. On the Uthiram Uyarthuvom programme, the collector said it is a seed they sow to transform Karur into an anaemia-free district.