IRIN Asia – Indonesia : Targeting children to beat anaemia | Children Food Security Health & Nutrition | News Item

JAKARTA, 27 August 2009 (IRIN) – An NGO in Jakarta is waging a war against the widespread problem of iron-deficiency anaemia in the country, one school and village at a time.

“Iron-deficiency anaemia is a chronic problem. Many people aren’t aware they have anaemia, because the body adjusts. So we have to go out and find the people with anaemia,” said Adi Sasongko, director of health services for the Kusuma Buana Foundation.

In 2000, backed by an international pharmaceutical company, the foundation began visiting schools and public health facilities in small villages. The results were staggering, but hardly surprising.

“In the Thousand Islands District, last year when we started there, we saw an almost 90 percent anaemia prevalence rate among babies,” Adi said, referring to small islands north of the Indonesian capital where poverty rates are high and access to social services poor.

According to the Asian Development Bank, 63.5 percent of the country’s 230 million inhabitants suffer from iron-deficiency anaemia. Among pregnant women, the rate can reach 72 percent, while among children aged 12–23 months, it varies between 65 and 85 percent.

via IRIN Asia | Asia | Indonesia | INDONESIA: Targeting children to beat anaemia | Children Food Security Health & Nutrition | News Item.

~ by yahyasheikho786 on August 30, 2009.