Health Dept seeking public cooperation

By Haryananewswire

CHANDIGARH, JULY 24

Haryana Health Department has appealed to the people in the State to extend their full cooperation for the success of  Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) campaign  to uproot Anaemia from the state. The students found suffering from mild side effects of these tablets would be administered sub normal dose of 60 mg for four weeks to accommodate the absorption of Iron.

    While stating this here today Mission Director,National Rural Health Mission, Haryana, Dr.Rakesh Gupta cautioned all those engaged in its Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) campaign to not to administer these tablets to those children who are on fast or Rozas. He said that these tablets should be given only after 15 to 20 minutes of the meal with full glass of water and it should not be chewed as the protective coating gets damaged which would otherwise have adverse effect on the body. These tablets should never be taken with milk or any other dairy product.
    He said that the WIFS Blue Tablets cure the iron deficiency among the children of adolescent age. Iron being an important element for body,its deficiency among the children leads to Anaemia.    He said that Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation   campaign is in favour of Haryana and would prove to be bliss for the children of the state. He urged the people of the state not to panic over these mild side effects as this campaign has been re-launched only after extended discussion  of panels of experts including doctors of PGIMER, Chandigarh and have been approved by World Health Organisation and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
          He said that it has also been noted that the children are complaining of these side effects due to ‘sympathetic effect’ as well. It was found in a school of Hisar that 49 other girls started complaining abdomen pain following the example of a single girl, he added.

He said that about 16 lakh children were administered Iron Folic Acid Supplementation in their schools in 21 districts of Haryana as the State Health Department has launched its Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) campaign to combat anaemia. He said that out of 16 lakh children, 1000  of them are facing side effects. Out of them, 900 children were found suffering from mild side effects such as stomach ache and mild nausea. It is just 100 of the total students given WIFS blue table are facing general side effects like severe diarrhea and vomiting.