It is important to screen children for malnutrition and anemia at a very young age to ensure early corrective measures. For this, Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar instructed officials to conduct health check-ups in collaboration with government health centers in places where children are present, such as schools.

Speaking at a workshop on Strategy for Eliminating Malnutrition and Anemia in cali drug rehabs in Bengaluru, Minister Sudhakar said that Asha workers and Anganwadi workers should work in tandem to conduct health checkups of children in collaboration with the Health Department and Rural Development Department. “Inspection by our department will determine whether the targets have been met. But if we really closer look into this, we are not doing a thorough job and we need to introspect if the checkups were done properly. PHC Doctors should go to schools within their limits or the children themselves should come to the PHC and get checked. The education department should take a serious note of this,” Minister Sudhakar said.

Maternal death even in this day and age is a disgrace. We should ensure that every woman in the state should come forward for a health check-up at least once a year. Going to the temple and offering prayers has grown into a tradition. Similarly, regular health check-ups for women and mothers in the state should be developed as a tradition. For this, more awareness should be created about health programs, Minister Sudhakar said.

“Karnataka has made great progress in the health sector. Good progress has also been made in the health index. But when it comes to malnutrition and anemia, we feel we can do more,” Minister Sudhakar said introspectively. He further said that the government under the leadership of Chief Minister Basavaraja Bommai is committed to addressing this challenge.

According to the Registrar General of India, the country’s maternal mortality ratio in 2018-2020 was 97. It was 301 in 2001-2003. Similarly, the infant mortality rate was 58 in 2005 and 27 in 2021. Although this is progress, there is still a way to go, Minister Sudhakar said.

Malnutrition appears within first two years after birth. If the problem is not detected and resolved at this time, it will adversely affect not only physical development but also brain development as well. Therefore, measures should be taken to prevent malnutrition and anemia in the first 1,000 days after birth. He said that especially if girls are malnourished when they grow up and give birth to a child, the child will be underweight and prone to diseases, anemia and malnourishment again. Minister Sudhakar highlighted the importance of breaking this intergeneration cycle.

With the slogan ‘Healthy Karnataka, Sustainable Karnataka’, the government hopes to ensure every Kannadigas should be healthy. Asha workers and Anganwadi workers also work in the elimination of malnutrition. Also, there is a need for coordination between departments like rural development, women and child development without which malnutrition cannot be eliminated. “In every meeting in the health department, I talk about IEC activity. We have many national and state health programs. But in my opinion, IEC is not getting much attention to the create awareness about the programs,” he said.

According to experts, 8% of the budget should be allocated to the health sector. 5% of the Karnataka budget is allocated for health. In the last 2-3 years during the pandemic, health sector got more funding and health infrastructure was increased 5-6 times. The Union government has also provided a scheme to upgrade health sub-centers to health and wellness centers. He expressed happiness that in the last year the central government had set a target of building 6,000 health and wellness centers in the state and 8,250 centers in the state have been upgraded as health and wellness centers.

*Minister Sudhakar asked officials to focus on the provision of nutritious food for health care, and installation of clean drinking water plants in rural areas. He said that many places do not have RO units and asked the officials to take the matter seriously.

*He said that priority should be given to Eat Right Abhiyan and vegetable gardens in schools to ensure nutrition-rich food for the students.

*He also instructed officials to ensure that targets are met in vaccinations under the Mission Indradhanush program.