BHUBANESWAR: AIPH university is set to do a comprehensive study on different types of anaemia in various geographical locations in Odisha, which has a very high prevalence of underweight, stunting, wasting and anaemia among children under five years of age.
The study, likely to be carried out in collaboration with AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, PGIMER and Capital Hospital, KIMS medical college and hospital, Jagannath Hospital and the government medical colleges in the state will find out the types of anaemia and the exact reasons behind the prevalence.
President, board of governors of AIPH university and professor at Georgetown University, USA Dr Pinaki Panigrahi said all may not be nutritional anaemia. “Iron and folic acid supplementation has not resulted in significant reduction in anaemia. This is why we need to do surveillance on the types of anaemia and level of B12 to design a strategy to prevent such health conditions,” he said at an international workshop here on Thursday.
In Odisha, the overall prevalence of anaemia in children aged six to 59 months increased from 45 per cent in 2015-16 to 64 pc in 2019-21. Scheduled tribes had the highest prevalence of 73 per cent anaemic children. The percentage of children who are stunted decreased marginally from 34 per cent to 31 per cent between the two surveys. However, the prevalence of stunting among the scheduled tribe children (42 per cent) was found to be much higher in the state.
Vice chair (research) of Georgetown university Prof Lewis Rubin suggested simple methods like blood clots and blotting paper and used them in the screening process to assess different blood parameters, including B12.
David Larsen from Georgetown post-bacc programme described how AI and machine learning could be useful while dealing with such conditions that are driven by many confounding factors.Director of family welfare Dr Bijay Panigrahy, vice chancellor of AIPH University Dr Usha Agrawal, head of translational research Dr Arjit Mohapatra and vice president of central IAP Dr Biswajit Mishra also spoke.
Path-breaking initiative
The study will be carried out by AIPH in collaboration with govt and private hospitals
The surveillance will be conducted in both medical and community settings
Prevalence of stunting among ST kids much higher in state