Massive awareness campaigns on anaemia prevention among women are the need of the hour, as the condition continues to pose a major health problem in the country despite many programmes being implemented aimed at taking preventive measures.


“Anemia is even beating diabetes and cancer in terms of prevalence among women. Hence, there is a greater need to spread awareness of anaemia to prevent its ill effects on quality of life and work effectiveness  and immunity of an individual,
 Dr Achla Batra, President of the National Association for Reproductive and Child Health of India (NARCHI) said.-
“Around 55% of  women and girls in India are anaemic, primarily because of a lack of awareness among the masses. Even mild anaemia can trigger tiredness, inability to do physical work, breathing difficulty and lack of interest in academics,” Dr Batra added.

“It affects concentration and quality of life, due to which people with anaemia fail to do work effectively in their jobs .  We want everyone to know about anaemia. Testing of haemoglobin can detect anaemia. if people do not know about the ill effects of  anaemia , they will not come forward for testing.. It takes only Rs 20 to get a haemoglobin test done for anaemia. The government health centres do it free of cost. People do not know that  the haemoglobin should be 12 for women and 14 gm%for men,” Dr Batra explained.“They even remain happy if their blood haemoglobin level remains at 10gm% In hospitals and health facilities when women go for testing of Haemoglobin in pregnancy ,  doctors even advise on which diet  to take to  prevent anaemia,” Dr Batra added.

“Prime Minister Narendra Modi is focusing majorly on the Anemia Mukt Bharat program. Every woman and adolescent girl should take one Iron folic acid  tablet a week to prevent anaemia. Taking an iron folic acid tablet will augment the availability of iron in the body. Mothers breastfeed their kids but they do not eat an adequate diet, do not take Iron folic acid for 6 months after delivery This results in anaemia post delivery  she added.

Dr Batra pointed out that the other problem is the prevalence of worm infestation. Worm infestation can also cause anaemia People can decide two days in a year which could be Diwali or Holi or any other two festivals when they can take tablets to tackle worms.. Everyone, including men, should take deworming tablets periodically.

She said that the government has been providing  Iron folic acid tablets tablets to prevent anaemia since 1970 but people are not aware of why they should take these tablets.“We  want to create awareness in all women specially  pregnant women that  we advise them   to take the  iron folic acid tablets because it  improves their  health and immunity and  also ensures a healthy and intelligent child
I want the media to take the onus and educate people about anaemia.. Iron tablets and a balanced and healthy diet can tackle anaemia. We want our country anaemia free so that we  have  healthy and intelligent population . Anaemia   is prevalent in all age groups but is more in females  of reproductive age and adolescent girls . Initially, anaemia does not exhibit any symptoms just makes a person listless ,lethargic , and have vague symptoms like pain in legs backache etc . Later as it becomes more severe breatjhlessness ,giddiness and heart failure can occur  

 
“According to a survey, iron deficiency is highly prevalent. and  is more prevalent than cancer and diabetes. Though the most common cause of anemia is iron deficiency , B12 deficiency is also a common contributor to anemia and  also needs to be tackled