Programme to tackle anaemia among women in garment sector

With more than two lakh women employees in the garment sector here suffering from anaemia, Karnataka government has collaborated with the Asian Research & Training Institute for Skill Transfer to tackle the issue at a micro level and then extend the programme to the rest of the state, according to ARTIST.
As part of the programme, over the next 100 days, the women workers will be screened for anaemia by the staff of the ESI Hospitals across Bengaluru, ARTIST said.
ARTIST will deploy its latest 'point of care' equipment at the screening centres to capture data on health parameters of women undergoing tests.

On the basis of the test results, oral or injectable iron will be administered to Anaemic factory workers at the ESI Hospitals in Bengaluru, it said in a release.
"Though the problem of iron deficiency Anaemia seems a simple problem to correct, it is widely prevalent in over 60% to 69 % of women employees in the industrial sector.... Unfortunately, Anaemic women do not realise that they are Anaemic. We have to tackle this issue with all sincere efforts," said Dr. Hema Divakar, renowned ObGyn & Chairperson, ARTIST.
Hema is the past President of the Federation of Obstetric and Gynaecological Societies of India (FOGSI).

Hema, who is the FOGSI representative at FIGO (International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics), said that FIGO would take up the responsibility of providing the instrument for Anaemia check and the video bytes for Anaemia awareness to be sent to all the employees on their mobile phones.
"If we administer iron to the lady workers in the garment factories, for the next 10 years at least, they will not suffer from Anaemic conditions. We intend to roll out this programme in March," Hema said.
During the second half of the year, Tamil Nadu, Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are expected to roll out similar programme to eliminate Anaemia among the working women, the release said.