MUMBAI: A group of healthcare experts, policy makers, jurists and other stakeholders have called for stronger public health measures to combat anemia, especially among girl children, female adolescents and women.Held by city-based Human Social Care Foundation (HSCF), an NGO holding Special Consultative Status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), in collaboration with the University of Mumbai, the recent summit stressed the need to improve access of nutritious food to girl children, pregnant women and mothers to curb spread of anemia.“According to the National Family Health Survey (NFHS-5), nearly 57% of women aged 15–49 years in India are affected by anemia,” said the Foundation’s president Faizan A. Azizi.“Our female population is vulnerable to anemia due to various reasons like poor nutritious food to female child, blood flow during periods and lack of supplementary food for the pregnant women.This can be cured through making the supplementary food available and creating awareness,” said Dr Dr. Sudeshna Ray, additional director of obstetrics and gynecology at Jaslok Hospital.Dr Ray added that anemia is one of the easily solvable problems provided policy makers and health experts join hands to combat it.
