Report 2011 - Deepalaya

conditions. Iron supplementation program is one of the major measures to use in order to fight against IDA
especially when the amount of absordable iron in the diet cannot be improve with pregnant women being
amongst the targeted groups.
Thus diagnosis and treatment of anemia in highly prevalent areas is essential.
The government has implanted interventions to control anemia in India. Iron and folic acid supplement tablets
are given daily to pregnant women through antenatal clinics (e.g. Mother and Child Health, MCH), primary
health centers and their sub-centers under the Governments Reproductive and Child Health Programme. 7071 .
Dosage of tablets should be adjusted according to the duration of supplementation.
The program called Prophylaxis against nutritional anemia, through the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare
used to distribute iron and folic acid (folifar) tablets to pregnant women and young children (1-12 years) 72 .
Moreover than centers previously given, ICDS (explained below) projects are engaged in the implementation of
this program such as Anganwadi Center in the villages.
Iron supplementation improves maternal iron status, especially in late pregnancy (third semester). However, for
women entering pregnancy with low iron stores, supplementation often fail to prevent deficiency 73 .
As described by the WHO, benefits of iron supplementation program on pregnant woman are decreased low
birth and perinatal mortality and when anemia is severe, decreased maternal mortality and obstetrical
complications 74 .
Iron fortification in food might be achieved by fortifying a staple food highly consumed by the population, such
as flour, salt or curry powder.
Education on nutrition has some benefits. This might include advices on dietary choices, promotion of
breastfeeding along with complementary food (great sources of iron). Messages should include encouraging
adequate food intake and weight gain during pregnancy.
Preventing adolescent pregnancy, reducing total number of pregnancy and increasing the time between
pregnancy are also aims of education and family planning promotion.
For areas where health services cannot reach all the population such as in rural area, we might involve
community accessible organizations, such as village women groups, religious leader, schools, as well as
community members. This also contribute to improve their participation in the program and to make them feel
concerned about it.
An other social welfare programs is the Integrated Child Development Services (ICDS) witch is currently the most
important scheme in the field of child welfare, initiated by the government of India in 1975. The ICDS scheme is
designed both as preventive and development effort. Services like health check-up, immunization and referral
services are provided through public health infrastructure. Here are the objectives of the ICDS scheme 75 :
− to improve the nutritional and health status of children in the age group 0-6 years;
− to lay the foundations for proper psychological, physical and social development of the child;
70 Reference 8- p.7
71 Reference 2- p.452
72 Reference 2- p. 574
73 Reference 1
74 Reference 17- p. 9, table 2
75 Reference 2- p. 510