Bhubaneswar: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Wednesday (23rd November 2022) launched the Mission AMLAN- Anaemia Mukta Lakhya Abhiyan in the state.
Mission AMLAN 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 Odisha CM said that it’s our own programme for making the state free from anaemia, especially women and children.
Launching the programme on the virtual platform, the Chief Minister said that the programme will benefit about 1.37 Crore people, which includes pregnant women, lactating mothers, women of reproductive age group, adolescents and children.
He further 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 Odisha CM said, this programme will be rolled out in 55,000 government and government-aided schools and 74,000 Anganwadi Centres across the State.
Saying that all our endeavours is focused on the principle of ‘Every life is precious, he said that the State Government has prioritised for development of the health sector in our state. “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.
The Chief Minister 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. The CM also released the Operational Guidelines for AMLAN.
Chief Secretary Suresh Chandra Mohapatra said that this programme will definitely succeed with the coordinated efforts of all departments. Previously, we have done it in the management of Covid-19, he added.
Secretary to CM (5T) Shri VK Pandian moderated the programme. Health & Family Welfare Secretary Smt Shalini Pandit gave the welcome address and the Director of Family Welfare offered the vote of thanks. Principal Secretaries Secretaries of several departments, and officials from all districts joined online.
