I read a lot of reports on Iron supplementation programmes and to my surprise, despite their introduction on a large scale, Anaemia is still very much widespread and the stats haven't changed. At the NGO community centre I had a long discussion with the NGO CHWs and the slum-dwellers about the inherent flaws of the system and why the government schemes often don't work.
Dispensing of tablets is quite a different matter from taking them. Getting people to take them properly, so that they work, and informing them of side-effects is just as vital but is missed out here. It is a huge waste of money when these free tablets are not taken properly. Also when they produce side-effects and people discontinue them, people lose faith in the tablets and the government scheme.
Later on, during my visit with Lakshmi Murthy we discussed this briefly and we both thought it was a good idea to focus on. I found this a great design opportunity so I outlined the problem and put down where I thought graphic design interventions could work.
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