Bengaluru o0: As India continues to grapple with persistently high rates of iron deficiency and anaemia, Danone in India today announced a comprehensive, nationwide initiative – ‘IRON UP!’; ahead of World Iron Deficiency Day. IRON UP! campaign brings together large-scale screening, healthcare practitioner engagement, digital education and community partnerships to accelerate detection and prevention of Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA) across the country.
Danone India has already facilitated more than 8 lakh iron screenings for children across multiple states. Using non-invasive and digital technology, the screenings are enabling early identification of risk in children at hospitals, schools and community centres, giving parents and educators timely insights to take preventive actions.
To strengthen medical advocacy, Danone has launched the IDA Pledge Campaign, calling on healthcare professionals across India to commit to raising awareness, improving timely diagnosis and promoting preventive nutrition. This collective effort aims to build a strong, unified movement within the medical community to help families understand and act on iron deficiency every day.
Through its digital campaign ‘Disappeared Red’, as part of IRON UP!, Danone India aims to reach over 25 million people across social platforms. The campaign uses powerful visual storytelling to highlight how iron deficiency impacts normal brain functions and reduces productivity in daily life, hereby encouraging early screening and proactively adoption right nutrition choices.
At the grassroot level, Danone is conducting Iron Deficiency Awareness camps in schools and community centres, focusing on children and women who are most vulnerable to anaemia. These on-ground efforts aim to build awareness, offer early detection, and bridge critical nutrition gaps for communities that need it most.
To enable long-term and sustainable changes, Danone is partnering with government bodies and NGOs in aspirational districts, supporting national programmes such as Anaemia Mukt Bharat. These collaborations ensure that accurate, science-based nutrition education reaches communities at scale and strengthens India’s broader public health efforts.
Mr. Shashi Ranjan, Managing Director, Danone India, said: “At Danone India, we are committed to positively impacting millions of lives by addressing one of the country’s most widespread nutritional challenges. With the launch of the Iron Up campaign, we aim to shift India’s iron-deficiency narrative from late detection to early prevention through early screening, greater nutrition awareness, and supporting the Government’s Anaemia Mukt Bharat mission. We believe that simple, evidence-based nutritional choices can transform health outcomes, and we are proud to work with healthcare partners to drive meaningful impact at scale”
According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS), 67% of children aged 6 to 59 months are anaemic in India while global research including findings from The Lancet highlights that anaemia remains one of the leading causes of disability among Indian women. These alarming indicators reinforce the urgent need for comprehensive, wide-reaching initiatives, a responsibility Danone aims to fulfil through the IRON UP! campaign.
With this initiative, Danone India reiterates its commitment to building a healthier future for communities across the country, ensuring that awareness translates into early action, and early action into long-term change.
