Conduct health camps every 6 months to do blood tests for rural women between 16 and 49 years to assess anaemia in every district in Karnataka starting with Chamarajanagara.

Did you know that over 50 percent of women across our country between the ages of 15 and 49 are anaemic?

Did you also know that Anaemia is a silent killer and a major public health problem?

I did not!

I read in the news recently that an ASHA worker died of anaemia in Mysuru and had approached health department. Forty-three-year-old Cheluvamma from Hullahalli in Mysuru was busy knocking on doors monitoring the pandemic and addressing the concerns of women and children in her neighbourhood. Unfortunately, she succumbed to anaemia and uterus related complications. 

This is not the only case. My farm help’s wife Sunita has been on anti depressants for a while now. Upon investigation I found that she suffered from chronic anaemia for very long.  Upon further research I found that many women in the village where I live have similar conditions and experience fatigue, weakness, lethargy and decreased concentration all this leading to depression, establishing a correlation between anaemia and mental health.

This is when I decided to act and dig deeper. This is what I found.

Anaemia is a condition in which a person has an insufficient number of red blood cells or quantity of haemoglobin, which reduces the capacity of their blood to carry oxygen. The normal haemoglobin level for women is 12 gram per decilitre (g/dlL) and men 13 g/dL.

India tops the list of nations with most anaemic women and children and it is a major public health problem, as per the Global Burden of Disease survey.  2/3rd of our population live in rural areas and yet, the epidemiology of anaemia in rural settings is not well known.

Iron-deficiency anaemia (IDA) among women in India is a problem of major public health significance. Studies as recent as 2016 have shown that 58.6% of all children, 53.2% of non-pregnant women, and 50.4% of pregnant women were found to be anaemic!

There have been several initiatives from the government but the program is exclusively focused on pregnant women and school children. It does not take into consideration children below 5 years, adolescent girls, women out of school or recently married women.

Awareness is the first step to prevention, which in turn is better than cure. Constant vigilance about your Hb levels and a sharp eye on your diet can ensure you avoid iron-deficiency anaemia.

The health camps and blood tests will give us a baseline data to work towards handling this epidemic effectively, and which is more relevant during times like COVID, when your health is of utmost importance.

Join me by signing this petition so we can get:

1.   Dr. K. Sudhakar Hon'ble Minister, Department of Health and Family and Medical Education, Karnataka

2.   Dr. K V Thrilok Chandra IAS, Commissioner, Commissionerate
Health and Family Welfare Services

3.   Dr. Arundhathi Chandrashekar IAS
Mission Director
National Health Mission(NHM)

4.   District Health Officer, CHAMRAJANAGARA, Karnataka

to - Conduct health camps every 6 months to do blood tests for rural women between 16 and 49 years to assess anaemia in every district in Karnataka starting with Chamarajanagara.