Intervention programmes for the prevention of iron deficiency problem in India

Running Head: Iron Deficiency Problem in India 1
Iron Deficiency Problem in India
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Iron Deficiency Problem in India 2
Intervention programmes for the prevention of iron deficiency problem in India
Iron deficiency problem is the main reason for Iron Deficiency Anaemia (IDA), and it is a
significant public health concern in India. The national and regional survey suggests that in some
population groups the occurrence of anemia might be as high as 90 percent in teenage girls, 85
percent in pregnant women, and 74 percent in children under the age of three (WHO, 2015).
Therefore, it is evident that the problem is more critical as it involves more women than to men.
The high prevalence of IDA India is a crucial concern, and the National Tenth Plan has set an
objective of reducing the occurrence by 25 percent among expectant and lactating mothers and
children. Also, institutional approaches and national programmes are put in place to attain this
goal. The primary iron deficiency interventions are dietary fortification and diversification and
medicinal supplementation with folic acid and iron (Underwood, 2014).
Food fortification
The government of India recommends food fortification with iron as one of the ideal approaches
for prevention and eradication the iron deficiency problem. However, it might prove to be
difficult because there are no many staple food productions such as flour processing and rice
milling. Therefore, food-based strategies should match the food consumption methods of the
target group to avoid over or under supplementation. Food fortification should be based on
marketing and production characteristics, stability, cost, and food consumption procedures
(Clydesdale, 2014).
Medicinal supplementation
Medicinal supplementation involves the addition of pharmaceutical preparations of nutrients-
tablets, capsules, or syrup to the diet. Research reveals that supplementation of sufficient dosage

Iron Deficiency Problem in India 3
and duration as effective in preventing, correcting land treating iron deficiency. However, the
challenge to scaling up supplementation to a program level the attain adequacy in specific group
dosage, frequency, and coverage of dosing. Therefore, anaemia control programme requires to be
implemented more effectively in India (Pimanda & Saeid, 2012).
Why this problem persists
In India, the main reason why IDA continues is low political commitment. Anaemia problem has
not been taken with the seriousness it requires, which results to ineffectively interventions
implementation. Also, there are no interventions that design all the possible means of enhancing
the nutritional intake of iron, such as food enrichment in addition to folic and iron tablets. The
other reason is the failure of the supplements to reach all the likely beneficiaries in sufficient
amounts (Goday & Sentongo, 2009). Subsequently, not every beneficiary who receives the
supplements ingests them. National Child Survival and Safe Motherhood Programme cater for
the general needs of mothers and children, ensuring that they receive the iron-folic acid
supplements. However, Chandigarh-based study reveals that as a result of an inadequate supply
of iron and folic acid supplements, pregnant women were forced to buy from chemist shops
(Vemulapalli & Rao, 2013). Also, 95.4 percent among children were found not to be receiving
iron supplementation. Another reason is inadequate coverage due to the inability of the health
workers to responsible recognize potential beneficiaries leading to irregular and scarce supplies.
Ways of solving iron deficiency problem
To address iron deficiency problem in India decisions to realize new programmes should be
informed by evidence. Therefore, a better understanding of the causes, prevalence of risk factors,
and information of present plans is a requirement in initiating policy discussions on addressing it