Adolescents in the country have been advised to accept the Girls Iron Folic Tablet Supplementation (GIFTS) pills to prevent them from being anemic especially during their Menstruation period.
In an interview with the Ghana News Agency on the sideline of an event to mark the 2022 World Menstrual Hygiene Day in Zenu, Ms Sahada Issaka Bolnaba, Senior Nutrition Officer Zenu health center stated that there were many misconceptions surrounding the GIFTS pills saying it was time stakeholders address such challenge holistically.
Ms Bolnaba further added that the GIFTS was not a fertility or family planning pills saying it was a tablet that boost iron supplementation in adolescent girls aged, 10 to 19 years due to their menstrual cycle.
She noted that records from a survey conducted by the Ghana Health Service (GHS) in 2019 indicated that most adolescent girls suffered from anemia during their menstruation period hence the introduction of the (GIFTS) program.
The senior nutrition officer revealed that the GIFTS tablets contained 60 percent of elemental iron and 40 percent of folic acid adding that adolescents lose a lose blood during menstruation and the GIFTS tablet was to cure that challenge.
Ms Bolnaba also advised the adolescents to eat very well to look healthy with a call on parents to carefully monitor their children especially during menstruation.
Source: GNA