Health Ministry to launch revised Anaemia Mukt Bharat guidelines

📌 Summary:

• The Union Health Ministry will launch revised operational guidelines for the Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Abhiyaan on June 29, released by Health Minister J.P. Nadda at the 16th Central Council of Health and Family Welfare meeting
• The strategy is expanded from 6x6x6 to 7x7x7: it adds low-birth-weight babies (0-6 months) as a seventh beneficiary group; a new "eating right" intervention promoting iron-rich, diversified diets; and a seventh institutional mechanism strengthening digital monitoring and evaluation
• The approach is upgraded from T3 (Test, Treat, Talk) to T4 (Test, Treat, Talk, Track)
• For pregnant/lactating women with severe anaemia or non-responders to oral iron, the guidelines recommend intravenous iron therapy (Ferric Carboxymaltose, Iron Sucrose)
• An integrated digital ecosystem: the JANANI Portal (Hb records of pregnant women), and RBSK & U-WIN portals (children), converging into a unified AMB Abhiyaan Portal
• Burden (NFHS-5): anaemia in 67.1% of children (6-59 months), 57% of women (15-49), 52.2% of pregnant women and 59.1% of adolescent girls (15-19)

🎯 UPSC Relevance: GS2 — health governance, welfare-scheme design, nutrition, and women & child health.

📝 Prelims Facts:

• AMB strategy upgraded: 6x6x6 → 7x7x7; T3 → T4
• New beneficiary group: low-birth-weight babies (0-6 months)
• IV iron drugs: Ferric Carboxymaltose and Iron Sucrose
• Portals: JANANI, RBSK, U-WIN → unified AMB Abhiyaan Portal; NFHS-5 shows 57% of women (15-49) anaemic

🔑 Key Term: Anaemia Mukt Bharat — flagship programme to reduce anaemia across its target beneficiary groups via testing, treatment and nutrition.