HYDERABAD:The number of women in Telangana having anaemia is 3.7% more than the all-India average, according to a National Family Health Survey (NFHS-4) released last week. While 53% of women (aged 15 to 49 years) have anaemia at the national level, it is 56.7%in Telangana. The survey covered 7,786 households, 7,567 women and 1.054 men.
Anaemia is a condition in which the number of red blood cells is low for various reasons such as deficiency of iron, Vitmain B12 and folic acid. Gynaecologists say that if a pregnant woman suffers from anaemia, the foetus might not get enough oxygen on account of the low RBC levels of the woman and she would not be able to withstand the growth of the foetus.
When asked, director of public health Dr Y Lalitha Kumari said that to tackle anaemia in children, de-worming tablets are given to them. “Either school teachers or ANMs give iron, folic acid supplements to adolescents every week. Also, a protein-rich diet is given in some parts of the state. In the case of anaemic women, 200 iron tablets are given to them and 100 tablets if non-anaemic,” she said. Dr CH Padmavathi, additional director of non-communicable diseases section, said that apart from distributing tablets, advice on nutrition is given and people are exhorted to eat iron-rich foods.
In Telangana, before the reorganisation of districts, the highest number of women with anaemia (71.2%) were reported in Khammam district and the lowest (50.6%) in Mahbubnagar.