MINISTER OF THE STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE (SHRI SUDIP BANDYOPADHYAY)
(a): Yes.
The prevalence of anaemia in children, married women and pregnant women in the country shows some increase
in National Family Health Survey (NFHS) – III conducted during 2005-06 in comparison to NFHS – II conducted
in 1998-99 as per following details:
Category Prevalence of anaemia
NFHS II (1998-99) NFHS III (2005-06)
Children (6-35 74.3% 78.9%
months)
Married women 51.8% 55.3%
Pregnant women 49.7% 58.7%
(b) The cause of anaemia is multifactorial and various reasons are (a) inadequate intake of food (cereals, pulses,
meat products) and vegetables rich in iron and folate, (b) poor bio-availability of iron in diet, (c) high incidence
of hookworm infestation and (d) high incidence of malaria.
(c) Under the umbrella of National Rural Health Mission (NRHM), various interventions for prevention
and control of anaemia among children and pregnant women are being implemented. These steps include:
1. Universal screening of pregnant women for anaemia as part of ante-natal care and supplementation with iron and Folic Acid tablets to all pregnant and lactating women. Pregnant and lactating women are provided with Iron – folic acid (IFA) tablet for 100 days during pregnancy. The Intra Uterine Device acceptors are also provided IFA tablets for 100 days in a year.
2. The Weekly Iron-Folic acid Supplementation Programme (WIFS) is recently being introduced for adolescent boys and girls
in Government and Government aided schools and out of school adolescent girls in order to increase their pre-pregnancy iron stores and decrease prevalence of anaemia.
3. Children from 6 months to 10 years are provided Iron Folic Acid (IFA) supplementation in syrup/tablet form for at least 100 days in a year.
4. Deworming: Children under 5 years of age are provided deworming tablets/ syrups twice a year to reduce the parasite load.
5. Identification and tracking of severely anaemic pregnant women at all the Sub Centres and Primary Health Centres for their timely management.
6. Health and nutrition education during Village Health and Nutrition Days to promote dietary diversification, inclusion of iron folate rich food as well as food items that promotes iron absorption.
7. Distribution of Long Lasting Insecticide Nets (LLINs) and Insecticide Treated Bed Nets (ITBNs) in endemic areas to tackle the problem of anaemia due to malaria particularly in pregnant women and children.
8. Other schemes targeting improvement of nutritional status are as under:
# Supplementary Nutrition Programme under the Integrated Child Development Services Schemes (ICDS) by Ministry of Women and Child Development addressing pregnant and lactating women and children under 6 years of age.
# Rajiv Gandhi Scheme for Empowerment of Adolescent Girls (SABLA) to address the multi-dimentional problems of adolescent girls including under-nutrition.
# Mid day meal scheme
