The Government of India has expanded its fight against anaemia by incorporating low birth weight infants into the revamped Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) Abhiyaan, marking a significant shift towards a more comprehensive and technology enabled approach to tackling one of the country’s most persistent public health challenges.

Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda is set to release the operational guidelines for the revised Anaemia Mukt Bharat programme during the 16th meeting of the Central Council of Health and Family Welfare. The updated framework replaces the existing programme with a broader strategy focused on strengthening prevention, early detection, treatment, monitoring and long term follow up of anaemia across vulnerable population groups.

The revised programme expands its focus to include low birth weight babies, recognizing their increased vulnerability to nutritional deficiencies and poor health outcomes during early childhood. The initiative will leverage digital tools and data driven monitoring systems to improve screening, surveillance and delivery of interventions across the healthcare system.

Anaemia remains a major public health concern in India, particularly among women and children. According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), approximately 67.1 percent of children aged 6–59 months, 57 percent of women aged 15–49 years, and 25 percent of men aged 15–49 years in India are anaemic. The condition contributes to impaired physical and cognitive development, reduced productivity and increased maternal and child health risks.

The revamped Anaemia Mukt Bharat programme is expected to strengthen existing interventions, including iron and folic acid supplementation, nutritional counselling, screening programmes and management of underlying causes of anaemia. The inclusion of low birth weight infants reflects growing recognition of the importance of early life interventions in improving long term health outcomes.

Public health experts have welcomed the expansion, noting that integrating technology enabled monitoring with targeted interventions can help improve programme effectiveness and reduce gaps in service delivery. They also emphasized that addressing anaemia requires coordinated action across healthcare, nutrition, sanitation and maternal child health programmes.

The revised strategy aligns with India’s broader efforts to improve maternal and child health indicators and reduce the burden of malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies. By adopting a more comprehensive and data driven approach, the government aims to accelerate progress toward reducing anaemia prevalence and improving health outcomes among vulnerable populations.

The launch of the revamped Anaemia Mukt Bharat programme underscores the government’s continued commitment to strengthening preventive healthcare and advancing public health outcomes through integrated and technology enabled interventions.