Anaemia is one of the critical public health challenges affecting the productivity and quality of life of adolescents and women, especially during their reproductive age. There is a need for holistic community action to eliminate anaemia and undernutrition. Sampoorna project aims to reduce the proportion of anaemia and improve the health of adolescent girls and women of reproductive age group (WRAG), including pregnant | nursing mothers from eight villages of Valsad. The initiatives include screening, educating, counselling and treating with a focus on making them responsible for their own health. This year, anaemia screening was done for 1,886 adolescent girls, 2,875 WRAG, 315 pregnant and lactating mothers.

2023-24 highlights

• provided 3,54,867 iron folic acid tablets
• trained 138 peer educators and nine volunteers to influence their peers
• sensitised 154 teachers and counselled 254 parents

Towards a healthier me

‘During a screening conducted in June 2023 at my school, my haemoglobin level was at 4.4 g | dl. I also carried sickle cell disease traits. The team referred me to the civil hospital, where they assisted with my blood transfusion process and counselled me on regular medication. My haemoglobin level has now increased to 11.3 g | dl,’ shares Pooja Halpati of Dived village.