GO issued to procure growth monitoring devices for babies

CHENNAI: To address the issue of babies born with low weight, the State government issued a Government Order (GO) to procure devices to monitor the babies born with low weight.

According to the order, the State government will procure Grofi Smart Infant Growth Scale, developed by IIT Madras. The device has an artificial intelligence based dashboard to identify the field issues related to babies born with underweight and will address them immediately. The smart scale consists of a digital weighing machine, digital length auto measuring sensor and head circumference with bar code reader.

The smart scale termed as Integrated Child Development Scheme (ICDS) based growth monitoring device will "support the parents by providing information education and nutrition to bring the new born to normal growth track at the earliest under POSHAN Abhiyan". The cost of each device is Rs 85,000 and 1,000 devices will be purchased to provide them for all the 434 blocks in the state.

Awareness to be created on early days of child's life:

State government issued another GO to create awareness on the importance of the first 1,000 days of a child's life to mothers."A board depicting the importance of first 1,000 days of a child's life may be displayed through print materials like wall posters and hand folders with messages related to nutrition, health and education of mothers and children may also be printed and distributed for the use of target population in all the maternity hospitals and all district and block offices of ICDS", the GO stated.

A sum of Rs 1.74 crore was sanctioned for the purpose of creating awareness.

State to create awareness on handwashing, cleanliness:

State government issued yet another GO to create awareness on handwashing and cleanliness in 20 districts to combat the issue of higher levels of anemia among children between 6 and 59 months. According to National Family Health Survey-5 data, children in 20 districts such as Tiruvallur, Virudhunagar, Mayiladuthurai, Nagapattinam, Ranipet, Vellore, Tirupattur, Ariyalur, Tiruvannamalai, Cuddalore, Thanjavur, Namakkal, Chengalpattu, Kanchipuram, Perambalur, Pudukottai, Karur, Kallakurichi, Villupuram and Tiruchurappalli the anemic level is higher that the State average of 57.4 percent. Rs 4.75 crore has been allotted under POSHAN Abhiyan scheme.