A STUDY ON THE IMPLEMENTATION STATUS OF WEEKLY IRON AND FOLIC ACID SUPPLEMENTATION’ (WIFS) IN THE SELECTED GOVERNMENT SCHOOLS OF WEST BENGAL

ABSTRACT

Background: Background: Anaemia has been acknowledged as a key public health issue in present scenario. The most common type of anaemia is Iron deficiency anaemia, and it occurs when your body doesn’t have enough of the mineral iron. Your body doesn’t have enough of the mineral iron. Your body needs iron to make haemoglobin. When there isn’t enough iron in our blood stream, the rest of the body can’t get the amount of oxygen it needs. Most cases of iron deficiency anaemia are mild and don’t cause complications. Aim: The study aims to assess the implementation status of ‘Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation’ (WIFS)’ component under Rashtriya Kishore Swastha Karyakram (RKSK) among the female students. Method: The study will be mainly qualitative in nature as it is primarily an exploratory study. This evaluation of the WIFS, for its efficacy, effectiveness and relevance clearly demonstrates that while the program is still relevant, implementation is not effective or efficient. Conclusion: The program was implemented nationwide in all schools without any exclusion criteria. Certain level has been achieved in WIFS programme in terms of compliance to IFA tablet consumption but there is a huge scope of improvement.

Keywords:, IFA, Anaemia, Adolescent health.