Mumbai: The numbers behind the campaign are stark. In Maharashtra, 54% of women of reproductive age and 57% of adolescents are anaemic.
The state's public health department issued a government resolution on Monday for an "Anaemia-Free Maharashtra" campaign, with the stated goal of halving the prevalence across target groups by 2030. It will cover children, adolescents, women of reproductive age, pregnant women and lactating mothers, and will lean on screening, treatment, regular follow-up and nutrition awareness.
The district map is uneven. The National Family Health Survey-5 found anaemia affecting 67% of people in some tribal and other districts, and in 17 districts the prevalence is higher than the state average.
Government officials attribute nearly half of the cases to iron deficiency. The rest come from a mix of causes: deficiencies of vitamin B12 and folic acid, frequent infections, and inherited blood disorders such as thalassaemia and sickle cell disease.
That mix matters for how the campaign is designed. Iron supplements alone will not move a number that includes undiagnosed thalassaemia, which is why screening and follow-up rather than mass distribution is the stated approach.
Maharashtra's figures sit within a wider national picture that has been improving on some measures. Data from the National Family Health Survey-6 shows 79.2% of young Indian women aged 15 to 24 now use hygienic methods of menstrual protection, up from 77.6% in NFHS-5 and 57.6% in NFHS-4 in 2015-16. The Centre's Scheme for Promotion of Menstrual Hygiene, run through the National Health Mission, supplies subsidised sanitary napkins through ASHA workers, and Jan Aushadhi Suvidha pads are sold at Re 1 each. More than 100 crore Suvidha pads had been sold by January 2026.
Anaemia is a wider problem than menstrual hygiene, but access to safe products and to screening at the same health facility makes the two programmes meet in the same village.
The resolution does not set out a budget or district-wise targets. Those are expected to follow once the campaign rolls out.