50 taken ill after consuming iron tablets in Assam school

GUWAHATI: About 50 students of Koithalkuchi High School in Nalbari district fell ill on Monday after taking iron folic acid tablets under a programme of the National Rural Health Mission (NRHM).

At 1 pm, the students of the high school complained of nausea, headache and stomach pain after taking the tablets. Teachers of the school and locals immediately rushed them to Swahid Mukunda Kakati Civil Hospital.

The superintendent of the hospital, MR Sharma, said, "About 49 students are undergoing treatment in our hospital and their condition is stable now. The children took the medicines in empty stomach for which they complained of nausea and stomach pain."

DC (Nalbari) Om Prakash said, "The students whose condition was serious were taken to Swahid Mukunda Kakati Civil Hospital. We send a team of doctors, along with the inspector of schools, circle officer and magistrate to the school, for enquiring about the matter. There, our doctors examined the students and after primary check-up, they were taken to hospital."

He added that when the teachers asked the students whether they have taken food in the morning, the latter replied in the affirmative after which the medicines were given to them. In the hospital, when their parents were asked whether their wards had taken food, they also said yes. "The students usually come to the school early in the morning and at that time they usually eat something. Bus as the tablets were given in the afternoon, which is quite a long gap, the students might have taken ill," he said.

The tablets were given under the National Iron Plus initiative, also known as Weekly Iron Folic Acid Supplementation ( WIFS) of NRHM. Union health minister Gaulam Nabi Azad launched the programme in the state on September 1. The project is aimed at doing away with nutritional anemia among adolescent boys and girls aged between 10 and 19 years. It covers students from Classes VI to XII studying in government and government-aided schools. The iron and folic acid tablets are given to children every Monday. Earlier, the programme was implemented on a pilot basis and the tablets were given to girls only.

Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) programme was re-launched in the state after the pilot project carried out in two districts in 2012 ended in a fiasco. Over 300 girl students had fallen ill after consuming the tablets last year in Sonitpur and Darrang districts.