HYDERABAD: The prevalence of anaemia among women in Telangana is on the rise and the health pandemic demands serious attention from the State government.
According to statistics made available by the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, the number of pregnant women detected with anaemia in the State was 6.77 lakh in 2018-19. In 2017-18, it was 5.92 lakh and just two years down the line in 2016-17, the number was 4.29 lakh. While Hyderabad recorded the highest number of detected anaemia cases, with 1.09 lakh cases in 2018-19, the large number could be attributed to the high population of the city.
However, among the districts, Warangal (Urban), Sangareddy and Suryapet had the highest number of anaemia cases -- 38,318, 35,97 and 29,722 respectively.
It may be mentioned here that a recent study on anaemia trends in India over a decade, from 2008-18, by an Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) researcher, has reported that Telangana has the highest percentage of women suffering with severe anaemia, wherein haemoglobin levels are less than 7g/dL.
The study titled ‘Temporal trends and differential patterns in the prevalence of severe anaemia in India: observations from country-wide haemoglobin determinations 2008-2018’ published in ‘Tropical Medicine and International Health’ journal, reported that the percentage of women with severe anaemia in Telangana in the year 2017-18 was 8.2 per cent, compared to 2-4 per cent in most of the states. Head of National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau and Scientist-G at the National Institute of Nutrition, Dr A Lakshmaiah, points out that food inadequacy is a major cause behind the high prevalence of anaemia in Telangana.
“Poor levels of iron intake are dangerous for pregnant women and can cause health issues on the baby like impairment of cognitive functions. Food inadequacy is high in the State among women of all age groups. As a result, the iron intake through food consumption is very low,” said Dr Lakshmaiah. “Combined with this, is the problem of poor food diversity. Every day at least seven food groups should be consumed but in the rural areas, whatever food is being consumed it does not even contain five food groups in most cases. Higher tamarind consumption which inhibits iron intake is also another reason behind the wide prevalence of anaemia,” he added.