The Government of India is closely working with World Health Organization on various health issues, including anaemia in Indian citizens, especially pregnant women, informed Union Minister of State for Family Welfare and Health, Dr Bharati Pravin Pawar. The recently released National Family Health Survey-V (NFHS-V) says that 52.2 per cent of pregnant women in the age group of 15-49 years are estimated to be anaemic in the country.
Speaking in the Parliament, the Union Minister of State gave information about Anaemia Mukt Bharat (AMB) strategy, launched in 2018, to reduce anaemia in women, children and adolescents in the lifecycle approach. She listed Union Government’s actions such as testing of anaemia using digital methods and point of care treatment, addressing non-nutritional causes of anaemia in endemic pockets with special focus on malaria, hemoglobinopathies and fluorosis; and management of severe anaemia in pregnant women undertaken by the administration of IV iron sucrose/blood transfusion.
In the latest NFHS survey, Ladakh tops the list of anaemic women in India with a percentage of 78.1 per cent, whereas Lakshadweep has minimum such cases with 20.9 per cent cases. The percentage is high in Bihar (63.1 per cent), Gujarat (62.6 percent), Odisha (61.8 per cent) and West Bengal (62.3 per cent).