Union government’s drive against anaemia has left 200 school kids sick and 16 are admitted in hospital in New Delhi after they attended the national initiative of  Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) programme.

Karnataka was the first state in the country to launch the programme on July 17 and 4,500 children have been administered the Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation. There has been ample instructions given and massive   awareness created among school teachers that the Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation should be given to the children only after food which is during lunch time where the food packs are distributed along with a bottle of water.

The iron and folic acid supplementation in the form of capsules with enteric coating barrier applied to oral medication that controls the location in the digestive system where it is absorbed to avoid diarrhoea and vomiting has been supplied across the country. These tables manufactured by HLL Lifecare Limited has manufactured the 100 mg elemental iron and 500 microgram of folic acid. The government purchased the drug from the HLL through an annual tender process.

Iron and folic acid need to be administered after a heavy meal or else it could report incidence of acute gastritis leaving children sick, Dr Dhanya Kumar, director, Karnataka directorate health and family welfare told Pharmabiz.

“There are no incidences in Karnataka which has completed the administration of  Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation to 4,500 children. The 30 districts in the state are now all set to start the programme on July 22 which is a Monday and observed as ‘Anaemia Control day’ or ‘WIFS day’ following the Union government order,” he added.

Medical experts stated that the IFA supplements of 100 mg elemental iron and 500 microgram of folic acid are known to cause acidity and this could be common to all age groups including the children if consumed on empty stomach or before food. They went to state that the schools should have been responsible to ensure that the medicine was consumed by the children after lunch. There is considerable negligence among government schools and therefore there should have been a government health officer in place to monitor the school teacher’s instruction to the students.

From a national level, the programme will cover approximately 13 crore recipients to help address the challenge of high prevalence of anaemia amongst adolescent girls and boys.