National News

Anaemia Mukt Bharat Strategy

October 30 , 2026 15 hrs 0 min 53 0

The Government of India revised the Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) programme to a 7×7×7 strategy in June 2026 to strengthen anaemia prevention, testing and treatment.
It was launched in 2018 by the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
AMB aims to reduce anaemia among children, adolescents and women; its traditional 6×6×6 strategy covers six beneficiary groups, six interventions and six institutional mechanisms.
The revised 7×7×7 strategy covers seven beneficiary groups, seven interventions and seven institutional mechanisms, including iron and folic acid supplementation, testing and treatment, deworming, awareness and digital monitoring.
Double Fortified Salt (DFS) contains iron and iodine to help prevent iron-deficiency anaemia and iodine-deficiency disorders; iodine supports normal thyroid function and growth.
Anaemia affects over half of Indian women and nearly three-fourths of children; studies in Bengaluru, Darjeeling, Punjab and Uttar Pradesh reported improved iron status, while a global review found that DFS can reduce anaemia by up to 21%.
Government programmes distribute DFS to about 76 million people across four States; wider distribution through the PDS (Public Distribution System), which serves around 800 million people, remains uneven.
The FSSAI (Food Safety and Standards Authority of India) has issued DFS standards; DFS complements iron supplementation, dietary improvement and screening for thalassaemia and sickle cell disease.