Health Concern: 60% pregnant women in Kashmir suffer anemia

Raihana Maqbool

Srinagar: The latest report released by Ministry of Health and Family Welfare reveals that nearly 60 percent pregnant women in Jammu and Kashmir suffer from anemia.

The data shows that anemia is widely prevalent among all groups and is particularly high among the pregnant women.

As per the data, over 16000 pregnant women out of 26994 registered by health institutions in October were found anemic.

“14552 pregnant women suffer from mild anemia with hemoglobin (Hb) level less than 11 while 1496 suffer from severe anemia,” the report reads.

Anemia is a condition where the human body has less than the normal level of hemoglobin which compromises oxygen-carrying capacity of blood cells. Anemia in pregnant women not only poses maternal mortality risk but also stunted growth of the born children.

The report further reveals that 2684 pregnant women had obstetric complications and were treated at public facilities including primary health centres, community health centres, sub-district hospitals, district hospitals and other state-owned public institutions.

As per the data there is a rising incidence of malnutrition-related diseases among women as compared to men and children.

3167 cases were having hemoglobin less than 7gm/dl and 919 cases of complicated pregnancies treated with blood transfusion were reported in October.

14951 live births were reported in October which is 55 percent of the total antenatal registrations.

“During the last month there were nearly 1082 abortions (both spontaneous and induced) and number of newborns having weight less than 2.5 kg was 800,” the report said.

Anemia is a major public health problem and nearly two-thirds of pregnant and one-half of non-pregnant women in developing countries have anemia, which increases the risk of maternal and fetal mortality and morbidity.

Studies have revealed that more than 68 percent of children (6-36 months of age), almost 59 percent of children below 5 years, 54 percent of women in their reproductive age, 56 percent pregnant women and 18 percent of men in J&K suffer from anemia.

Experts say the iron requirements in adolescent girls and pregnant women increase significantly because of physical growth like onset of menstruation in adolescent girls. A diet low on nutrition and iron content can make women susceptible to iron deficiency anemia and its detrimental effects.

As per a report by UNICEF, the poor status of adolescent girls in India and their poor diet perpetuate a vicious cycle of nutrition deprivation that passes on from mother to daughters, from one generation to the next.

Source: http://dailykashmirimages.com/Details/97493/health-concern-60-pregnant-w...