“In fact, the severity of the problem is so enormous that the entire life cycle of an individual starting from birth is affected,” said state Health & Family Welfare Principal Secretary M N Roy.

Speaking at a state-level conference on anemia in West Bengal organised by Unicef, he said that a strong gender divide is seen among adolescent girls and boys in the state.

“While the percentage of adolescent girls who suffer from anaemia is over 60, the figure for adolescent boys ia about 30 per cent.”

“The problem is that when so many women are anaemic, the children born to them too suffer from the deficiency and subsequently suffer from reduced mental capacity and IQ. About 63.2 percent women in the state suffer from anemia while 39.1 women have a BMI index of less than 18.5,” said Aparajta Dasgupta, professor at the All India Institute of Health and Public Hygiene's Preventive and Social Medicine Department.

“Both with respect to anaemia and nutritional status, the state ranks 24th which means there are 23 states better than ours,” she added.

She said that that although the state’s life expectancy figure has improved, the quality of life has not improved commensurately.

“The continued persistence of anaemia at high levels is a challenge that needs to highest priority for attention and action,” said Unicef Chief of Field Office (West Bengal) Lori Calvo.

“Anaemia can lead to poor school performance and dropouts. It threatens a girl’s future ability to bear healthy children and perpetuates a generational cycle of poverty,” she explained.

According to the Unicef field office in West Bengal, the prevalence of anaemia in children between 6 and 35 months is 69 per cent while that in adolescent girls (10-19 year group) is almost universal, with 98 per cent of adolescent girls being reported to be anaemic and 18 per cent reported to be severely anaemic.

Given that a significant proportion of the population was facing the health hazard, a consensus was arrived at between various government departments, doctors and Unicef representatives on the steps needed to tackle the problem.

All the stake-holders agreed on food fortification, micronutrient supplementation to vulnerable groups and involving of the education and panchayat departments to help eradicate the problem.

Anaemic state
69 per cent children between 6 and 35 months

98 per cent adolescent girls (10-19 year group) with 18 per cent severely anaemic