In an effort to reduce anemia among women of reproductive age by halving it by 2025, the World Health Organization (WHO) has released the first-ever comprehensive framework on the subject https://worldhealthorganization.cmail20.com/t/d-l-zuuktn-tljidujrij-y/
According to a press statement released by the world health body, the world is not on track to meet the global target and progress in eliminating anaemia has been slow.
With 571 million women and 269 million young children affected globally, anemia is a severe public health issue.
According to the WHO, in 2019, anemia afflicted 30% of women between the ages of 15 and 49, 37% of pregnant women, and 40% of children between the ages of 6 months and 5 years. It is more common in nations with poor and medium incomes.
Anaemia worsens cognitive function, raises the risk of infections and death, and results in great weariness, unfavorable pregnancy outcomes, lost wages, and poor growth and development. It is a reliable predictor of general health, the body disclosed.
“Most work on addressing anaemia has been focused on the prevention and treatment of iron deficiency,” says Francesco Branca, the Director of WHO’s Department of Nutrition and Food Safety.
“However, anaemia is a complex condition with multiple causes – including other nutritional deficiencies, infections, inflammation, gynaecological and obstetric conditions, and inherited red blood cell disorders.”
To properly prevent and treat anemia, all must be addressed.
The new paradigm outlines strategies for addressing the primary risk factors, direct causes, and widespread societal injustices that underlie anemia. It outlines important action areas to increase the coverage and uptake of interventions, specifies the necessary comprehensive approach that brings together a variety of sectors and players.
While acknowledging that the majority of the advised interventions continue to be delivered by the health sector, the framework also suggests measures that other society stakeholders might adopt. These include governments, civil society, academia, researchers, funding organizations, international organizations, and the media. Each has a certain task to complete in order to lower anemia and maintain people’s health.
The International Maternal Newborn Health Conference serves as the official launch for the framework.
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