The gains of curbing anaemia in women

Of the many health concerns of women that get overlooked, anaemia is one of the most dangerous. Earlier this month, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (SAARC), the government of Sri Lanka, Unicef, WHO, and other partners hosted the Nourishing South Asia — Reducing Anaemia in Adolescent Girls and Women regional conference in Colombo, which threw up alarming figures on anaemia in the region. If India is to realise both its demographic dividend and increase female labour force participation, anaemia has to be tackled as it goes far beyond being a health issue. It is a sign of poor nutrition, inequality, chronic infection, and with this comes poor health and lost opportunities for women.

In India, 57% of women of reproductive age (15-49 years), 52% of pregnant women, and 67% of children under five are anaemic. This represents not just a health crisis, but deep-rooted gender inequities. While........

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