Source: Islamic Republic of Afghanistan – Report:
Headline: The use of folic acid and iron tablets has no side effects
Today Ministry of Education, Ministry of Hajj and Religious Affairs and Ministry of Public Health announced their coordination with Ministry of Women Affairs in a conference on “anemia and vitamin D deficiency in women” at Gover nment Media and Information Center (GMIC).
Spozhmai Wardak, Deputy Minister of Women’s Affairs: “According to survey conducted the Ministry of Public Health, girls and women in the country face 40% of Anemia and 97% of vitamin D deficiency.”
The Ministry of Public Health has been launching programs to distribute folic acid and iron tablets to schools for preventing anemia amongst girls, and this program has already begun.
Dr Fada Mohammad Paikan, Deputy Minister of Public Health, emphasized that anemia causes the boredom and growth constraints in girls, and the lack of vitamin D decreases due to the weakness of bone and bone marrow. The Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Ministry of Education, distributed the tablets Folic acid and iron for students from fifth up to twelve grades of school over the country.
He also added that through the 2,800 health centers of the Ministry of Health throughout the country, sunshine and dietary regimens for vitamin (D) are available to girls.
The Ministry of Health also said that folic acid tablets, as well as advice on dietary intake of vitamin D (D) from sunshine and dietary foods for girls between the ages of 11 and 19 who are not students, are also part of the ministry’s plans.
Mawlavi Fazalrahman Seraj General Director at Mosques also announced the vitamin (D), in recognition of Islam’s emphasis on health, to prepare the ministry to raise awareness of the people through mosques people to receive anemia pills.
Dr Fada Mohammad Paikan also said that: “With regard to the harms and benefits of these tablets, a series of rumors was issued by the regional intelligence agencies, which prohibits people from using these tablets, we ask people to get the information they need before they reach any conclusion and after that stop using these tablets.”
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