A study of supply, procurement, and distribution Of i fa under rch programme in lucknow district, uttar pradesh

Abstract

The impact of the Government's National Nutritional Anaemia Control Programme ( NNACP) Program, now a part of RCH, has been limited due to poor supply and distribution system of iron supplements. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess the current supply, procurement and distribution system of IFA tablets from the Lucknow district up to the Sub Centre level, The study revealed that the supply pattern of IFA tablets, which are provided through KIT A. has been grossly erratic at all the levels, Contrary to the RCH guidelines, the grass root level workers are no where involved in demand estimation procedure, which is done by GOI on the basis of fixed population of a sub-centre of 5000. The transportation of these kits to the sub-centre also poses a problem with ANMs'. Though the tablets are supplied for pregnant and lactating women, and children aged one to five years, the monitoring of distribution of IFA at State, district, PHC and sub-centre levels, if any, is done only for pregnant women.