Lok Sabha Question No. 3406 (UNSTARRED), answered on 2020-03-13
Subject: Anemia among Women
Ministry: HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE
Asked by: Dharmendra Kumar Kashyap, D. Ravikumar

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

LOK SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 3406 TO BE ANSWERED ON 13 TH MARCH, 2020

## ANEMIA AMONG WOMEN

## 3406. SHRI DHARMENDRA KASHYAP:

## SHRI RAVIKUMAR D.:

Will the Minister of HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE be pleased to state:

- (a) whether the Government is aware that a large number of women particularly pregnant women aresuffering from anemia in the country,
- (b) if so, the details thereof, State/UT - wise; and
- (c) the steps taken/proposed to be taken by the Government in this regard?

## ANSWER THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HEALTH AND FAMILY WELFARE

(SHRI ASHWINI KUMAR CHOUBEY)

- (a): A s per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) - IV (2015 - 16), 53.1% women aged 15- 49 years in the country are anaemic.

Similarly, the prevalence of anemia among pregnant women age 15 - 49 years is 50.4%.

- (b): State - UT wise anemia prevalence for women aged 15- 49 years and pregnant women (15 -49 years) age group is placed at Annexure -I & II.
- ( c) : Under  the  National  Health  Mission  (NHM),  the  steps  taken  to  tackle  anaemia  are follows;
1. Anemia Mukt Bharat strategy has been launched for supplementation and tr eatment of anaemia in children (6 - 59 months), pre -school children (5 - 9 years), adolescents girls and boys (10 - 19 years), pregnant and lactating women and women of reproductive age group (15 - 49 years) through life cycle approach to prevent and treat micron u ient deficiencies. The six interventions under Anemia Mukt Bharat strategy are as follows:
- Prophylactic Iron Folic Acid Supplementation
- Periodic deworming
- Intensified  year -round  Behavior  Change  Communication  Campaign  including  delayed cord clamping
- Testing and Treatment of anemia using digital methods and point of care treatment
- Mandatory provision of Iron Folic Acid fortified foods in public health programmes
- Addressing non - nutritional causes of anemia in endemic pockets, with special focus Malaria, Hemoglobinopathies and Fluorosis
2. Weekly Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation (WIFS) Programme is being implemented to meet the challenge of high prevalence and incidence of anaemia amongst adolesc girls and boys. The intervention under WIFS includ e supervised weekly ingestion of Iron Folic Acid (IFA) tablet (each IFA tablet contains 100mg elemental iron and 500µg folic acid)  for  52  weeks  in  a  year. To  control  worm  infestation  biannual  de - worming  with Albendazole 400mg is done, six months apart.
3. Health  management  information  system  &  Mother  Child  tracking  system  is  being implemented      for  reporting  and  tracking  the  cases  of  anaemic  and  severely  anae pregnant women.
4. Universal screening of pregnant women for anemia is a part of ante - natal care and every pregnant women is given 180 tablets of iron and folic acid after the first trimest taken 1 tablet daily for 6 months and same is continued during the post - natal period (till 180 days). Pregnant women who are found to be clinically anemic, ar e given two tablets daily.
5. To address anaemia due to worm infestation, deworming of pregnant women is done afte first trimester preferably in second trimester of pregnancy.
6. Pradhan Mantri Surakshit Matritva Abhiyan (PMSMA) has been launched to focus on conducting  special  ANC  check  up  on  9th  of  every  month  with  the  help  of  Medica officers/ Obstetrics and gynecologists to detect and treat cases of anemia.
7. Operationalization of   Blood Bank in District Hospitals and Blood Storage Unit in district facilit ies is being taken to tackle complications due to severe anemia.
8. To  tackle  the  problem  of  anemia  due  to  malaria  particularly  in  pregnant  women  a children,  Long  Lasting  Insecticide  Nets  (LLINs)  and  Insecticide  Treated  Bed  N (ITBNs) are being distribute d in endemic areas.
9. MCP Card and Safe Motherhood Booklet is being distributed to the pregnant women fo educating them on dietary diversification and promotion of consumption of IFA.
- 10.Health and nutrition education through IEC & BCC to promote dietary diversification, inclusion of iron folate rich food as well as food items that promotes iron absorpt material  in  the  form  of  posters,  hoardings,  wall -writings  and  audio - visuals  have  been developed & disseminated to the States /UTs to promote prevention of anemia.

## NFHS-IV Anaemia prevalence among women age 15-49 years:

Annexure: I

| Sr No   | State                       |   Any anaemia (<12 gm/dl) |
|---------|-----------------------------|---------------------------|
| 1       | Dadra And Nagar Haveli      |                      79.5 |
| 2       | Chandigarh                  |                      75.3 |
| 3       | Andaman And Nicobar Islands |                      65.9 |
| 4       | Jharkhand                   |                      65.2 |
| 5       | Haryana                     |                      62.7 |
| 6       | West Bengal                 |                      62.5 |
| 7       | Bihar                       |                      60.3 |
| 8       | Andhra Pradesh              |                      61.1 |
| 9       | Daman And Diu               |                      58.9 |
| 10      | Telangana                   |                      56.6 |
| 11      | Meghalaya                   |                      56.2 |
| 12      | Tamil Nadu                  |                      55   |
| 13      | Gujarat                     |                      54.9 |
| 14      | Tripura                     |                      54.5 |
| 15      | Delhi                       |                      54.3 |
| 16      | Punjab                      |                      53.5 |
| 17      | Himachal Pradesh            |                      53.5 |
| 18      | Madhya Pradesh              |                      52.5 |
| 19      | Puducherry                  |                      52.4 |
| 20      | Uttar Pradesh               |                      52.4 |
| 21      | Odisha                      |                      51   |
| 22      | Jammu And Kashmir           |                      49.4 |
| 23      | Maharashtra                 |                      48   |
| 24      | Chhattisgarh                |                      47   |
| 25      | Rajasthan                   |                      46.8 |
| 26      | Assam                       |                      46   |
| 27      | Lakshadweep                 |                      46   |
| 28      | Uttarakhand                 |                      45.2 |
| 29      | Karnataka                   |                      44.8 |
| 30      | Arunachal Pradesh           |                      43.2 |
| 31      | Sikkim                      |                      34.9 |
| 32      | Kerala                      |                      34.3 |
| 33      | Goa                         |                      31.3 |
| 34      | Nagaland                    |                      27.9 |
| 35      | Manipur                     |                      26.4 |
| 36      | Mizoram                     |                      24.8 |
|         | All India                   |                      53.1 |

## Annexure-II

## NFHS-IV: Anaemia prevalence among Pregnant women age 15-49 years who are anaemic (<11.0 g/dl) (%)

| Sr No   | State             | Anaemia (<11.0 g/dl)   |
|---------|-------------------|------------------------|
| 1       | A&N Islands       | 61.4                   |
| 2       | Andhra Pradesh    | 52.9                   |
| 3       | Arunachal Pradesh | 37.8                   |
| 4       | Assam             | 44.8                   |
| 5       | Bihar             | 58.3                   |
| 6       | Chandigarh        | *                      |
| 7       | Chhattisgarh*     | 41.5                   |
| 8       | D &NHaveli        | 67.9                   |
| 9       | Daman &Diu        | *                      |
| 10      | Delhi             | 46.1                   |
| 11      | Goa               | 26.7                   |
| 12      | Gujarat           | 51.3                   |
| 13      | Haryana           | 55                     |
| 14      | HP                | 50.4                   |
| 15      | J &K              | 47.5                   |
| 16      | Jharkhand         | 62.6                   |
| 17      | Karnataka         | 45.4                   |
| 18      | Kerala            | 22.6                   |
| 19      | Lakshadweep       | 39                     |
| 20      | Maharashtra       | 49.3                   |
| 21      | Manipur           | 26                     |
| 22      | Meghalaya         | 53.3                   |
| 23      | Mizoram           | 27                     |
| 24      | MP                | 54.6                   |
| 25      | Nagaland          | 32.7                   |
| 26      | Odisha            | 47.6                   |
| 27      | Puducherry        | 27.8                   |
| 28      | Punjab            | 42                     |
| 29      | Rajasthan         | 46.6                   |
| 30      | Sikkim            | 23.6                   |
| 31      | Tamil Nadu        | 44.4                   |
| 32      | Telangana         | 48.2                   |
| 33      | Tripura           | 54.4                   |
| 34      | UP                | 51                     |
| 35      | Uttarakhand       | 46.5                   |
| 36      | WB                | 53.6                   |
|         | All India         | 50.4                   |