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KABUL (SW) – Ferozuddin Feroz, minister for the Ministry of Public Health, clarified on Tuesday the folic acid distributed among female school students have no side effects.
This comes as MoPH and the Ministry of Education have initiated a free distribution campaign of folic acid tablets among female school students between the ages of 10 and 19 years nationwide.
The minister said some negative elements are deliberately causing disillusion among people by spreading false rumors that the tablets might result in infertility among the girls. On the contrary, he stressed these tablets help ensure the girls are not faced with shortage of iron at later stage in their lives.
Mirwais Balkhi, minister for the MoE, hailed the initiative on the occasion. He said the efforts to improve the situation of literacy in the country would not yield results unless students are fully healthy. He said many students cannot continue with their studies due to different illness.
Officials from different provinces told the moot in this connection that the distribution of folic acid could not be materialized in some restive parts of the country.
A study conducted by the MoE in 2013 indicated every third child is faced with shortage of iron. The ministry has trained more than 12,000 officials for the distribution of folic acid tablets.
ENDS
