Tackling Odisha’s anaemia woes
Something is seriously wrong with the Odisha government’s nutrition programmes. What can explain the sorry fact that almost two-thirds women (64%) and as many children aged 1–5 years are anaemic? The problem has exacerbated in the last five years in its most developed and populous regions.
Odisha is a state where chronic nutritional deficiencies among women and children have had a long history, which has resulted in high maternal and infant mortality. So, the latest report of a spike in anaemia is worrying. A data map generated by Geographic Insights, a Harvard University-based lab, presents grim insights into the overall scenario. Odisha’s tribal districts, notorious for their backwardness, have long struggled with malnutrition.
But what has now come as a huge shock is that the coastal districts have reported a massive jump in anaemia. Comparing the latest data from the National Family Health Survey 5 (2019–21) with its previous edition, the analysis reveals that the anaemia scenario has worsened a lot in 16 districts. Of them, 11 are coastal districts. These are pockets that are economically robust, urbanised and have received intense focus from successive governments’ welfare programmes. Sample this: Khurda district, the seat of power, has witnessed a 22% jump in anaemia among women and 37% among children in the 6–59 month age group. The story is more or less the same in the 10 other districts.
This must be a warning sign for the BJD government, which has been in power for 22 years. That such a spike in a key nutritional deficiency has been reported from the most developed region of the state must rattle the Naveen Patnaik administration that gloats over its model of governance. While things have improved in some areas, yet a lot remains to be achieved. As things stand, 18% of children continue to be malnourished and 30% are underweight, which means they face chronic undernutrition. It would be easy to brush the poor anaemia indicator under the carpet by attributing the scenario to Covid but the fact remains that such a condition takes years to form. Odisha must dive deep into the underlying factors and find a roadmap for the sake of the state’s mothers and children.