Uttarakhand to launch nutrition drive to boost children’s immunity
DEHRADUN: The Uttarakhand government will run a nutrition supplementation programme to boost immunity in children, officials said, in a move to prepare for the third wave of Covid-19 pandemic that experts say could hit children the most.
The decision was taken on the suggestions by an expert committee of doctors, which was constituted to assist the government in Covid-19 management. Under the move, the government will provide essential nutrients in the form of tablets or drops to children in 0-18 age group at their homes. “The committee had offered the suggestion to government two days ago,” said Dr Hem Chandra , chairman of the expert committee and vice chancellor of Hemwati Nandan Bahuguna Uttarakhand Medical Education University.
“As there are reports that the third wave would hit the children most, we have suggested the programme as a preventive measure. The government will boost the existing nutritional programme for children and provide essential nutrients like Vitamin- A, C and D, zinc, Omega 3 fatty acid and selenium in the form of drops and capsules to the children.”
He said the nutrients would boost the overall immunity of children, which will not only help them fight the Covid-19 infection but also other diseases.
He said said the programme is likely to start in next 15 days.
Confirming the development, secretary in charge for health Pankaj Pandey said that the government has accepted the suggestion and would soon implement it. “We are ensuring preparations to tackle the third wave to minimise the infection among children. Supplementary nutrients will also be provided to boost immunity in children.”
In April, the government decided to distribute Ivermectin-12 mg drug to all families in the state to stop the infection from spreading severely.
The decision was taken by the state health department following approval by the experts’ committee. The government has since been distributing kits of Ivermectin-12mg to households across the state.