IFA improving girls’ class attendance
"The tablets protect the girls from developing anaemia as they lose a lot of blood through monthly menstruation"
It’s 07:30 am on Wednesday at Ngumbe Community Day Secondary School (Ngumbe CDSS). Short-hair girls in their pink blouse and grey skirt uniforms are in queues at the main entrance barrier and the gate to their hostels.
It’s time to receive Iron and Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation tablets, which improve girls' iron status in their bodies, and reduces their exposure to anaemia.
“Since I began taking these tablets in December 2023, I no longer experience menstrual pains,” says 15-year-old Peace Mulula, a Form three student at the school, also disclosing an increase in her appetite.
15-year-old Milliam Miles, a form two student at the same school says she has not experienced any negative side effects since she started taking the tablets in December 2023.
“On the first day, I felt some strange things but I think my body is used to the drug now. I don’t have any negative effects,” she says.
Peace and Milliam are part of over 200,000 adolescent girls in Blantyre, Phalombe and Nsanje districts who are receiving IFA supplements. In Blantyre, the project is being implemented by Farmers Union of Malawi (FUM) under the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) program with funding from UNICEF Malawi through KFW to promote IFA uptake in adolescent girls and counselling on diversified diets.
FUM Nutrition Field Officer, Florence Kambala says IFA supplement distribution exercise has been there since January 2022. She says on average 1,300 girls are on the IFA program from 39 primary and secondary schools in Traditional Authority Machinjiri in Blantyre.
“IFA tablets distribution is part of nutrition for adolescent girls. The tablets protect the girls from developing anaemia as they lose a lot of blood through monthly menstruation,” Kambala says.
Ngumbe CDSS’ Health Nutritionist, Chimwemwe Tembo says there are 250 girls who are on IFA supplements at this school.
She says since the introduction of IFA supplements, there has been a reduction in number of girls who excuse themselves from attending classes whenever they are menstruating.
“I’ve learnt from the girls that reduction of menstrual cramps and increased appetite are some of the advantages of IFA supplements, among others. The only setback is parents’ religious beliefs and other misconceptions. We have 12 students who abstained from this exercise due to such,” she explains.
Tembo says IFA is specifically administered at 07:30 am because this is immediately after their breakfast, “If they take it on an empty stomach, they usually experience nausea and other side effects.”
Whilst some children who are in boarding school stay in the hostels during the exercise, the day scholars become absent from school, as some parents believe IFA would make their girls infertile.
Health Surveillance Assistant under Kadidi health centre, Shadreck Kwasalayani says there are four schools (two secondary and two primary) where IFA is being administered to adolescents aged 14 to 19 years.
“IFA is essential to girls’ reproductive health. At this age, girls struggle with menstrual pains and they lose a lot of blood which later leads to anaemia. IFA helps to protect them from becoming anaemic,” he says, adding that since the onset of the program in 2022 the program has run smoothly with no stock outs.
