Anaemia in India is a multi-causal public health challenge. Discuss how a convergent, life-cycle approach under Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan can accelerate India's progress toward the WHO Global Nutrition Targets.

The WHO Global Nutrition Targets seek a 50% reduction in anaemia among women of reproductive age. India's NFHS-5 burden — 57% of women and 67.1% of children — reflects anaemia's multi-causal roots, demanding a convergent, life-cycle response now institutionalised under Anemia Mukt Bharat Abhiyaan (2026). [S3][S1]

Anaemia's multi-causal nature

• Nutritional: iron-folate deficiency, poor dietary diversity.
• Non-nutritional: sickle cell, thalassaemia and malaria in endemic pockets. [S3]
• Underlying determinants: poor sanitation, worm infestation, low female literacy and early pregnancy — beyond the reach of supplementation alone.

Convergence as accelerator

• Inter-ministerial action: MoHFW with WCD (ICDS), Education (WIFS in schools), FSSAI (mandatory IFA fortification of PDS/MDM staples) and Tribal Affairs. [S3][S4]
• Federal convergence: guidelines released through the apex Centre-State CCHFW, aligning States on delivery. [S1]
• Digital convergence: JANANI, RBSK and U-WIN portals unified into one AMB portal; the T4 approach (Test-Treat-Talk-Track) enables individual follow-up. [S1]

Life-cycle coverage

• The 7×7×7 strategy spans seven groups — from low-birth-weight infants to reproductive-age women — breaking the intergenerational cycle. [S1]
• Point-of-care digital haemoglobinometer testing plus a shift from preventive to therapeutic care targets severity, not blanket dosing. [S3]
• Jan Bhagidari drives behaviour and dietary change.

By attacking every causal layer across the lifespan, AMB Abhiyaan converts scattered schemes into measurable outcomes, advancing WHO targets and SDG-2 and SDG-3 toward an anaemia-free India.