Kanya Express to address anaemia among young girls

JAJPUR:  In an effort to supplement the Union government’s initiative ‘Anaemia Mukt Bharat’, Bansidhar & Ila Panda Foundation (BIPF) launched Kanya Express, an innovative mobile health van, at Sukinda here on Wednesday.

The Kanya Express will regularly check haemoglobin levels of young girls, facilitate distribution of iron folic acid supplements and deworming tablets through government networks and create awareness on anaemia-related illnesses, balance nutrition and wellness.

It will also provide adolescent girls with seed kits to create a nutri-garden in the backyard of their houses which will help with nutrition supplementation. BIPF chief executive officer Shaifalika Panda said, “Kanya Express will be a game changer for adolescent girls, helping them understand nutritional needs and address anaemia-related challenges. This project has been introduced with an objective to reduce the intergenerational challenges caused due to anaemia and poor nutrition and in turn, reduce MMR and IMR in the area.”

The ‘Kanya Express’ is a customised mobile health vehicle which will travel to far-flung areas and villages of 104 villages under 25 gram panchayats in Sukinda block in the current year.  Apart from haemoglobin check and distribution of iron folic acid supplements, it will work in close collaboration with the chief district medical officer, district social welfare officer and district education officer to address development issues of adolescent girls in Sukinda. Among others, BIPF DGM Nilendu Chatterjee was present.