Title: Misdistributions of Iron-Folic Acid (IFA): a Major deterrent to combat Anemia in Pregnant Women
Authors: Dr M.K. Sharma, Dr Neeraj Gour, Dr N.K. Goel, Dr Dinesh Walia, Dr Navpreet
DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18535/jmscr/v3i12.02
As per WHO 2012 guidelines a pregnant women should receive IFA as soon as possible during gestation enabling pregnant women to consume a total of 180 tablets (though many countries aim for 90 tablets). Since, Antenatal care is an effective platform for IFA distribution and hence this study was conducted in this area covering the pregnant women AIMS and OBJECTIVES:- MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study was conducted at RHTC under the Department of Community Medicine of Govt. Medical College, Chandigarh RESULTS: - At Rural Health Training Center within a period of 02 years a total of 1651 pregnant women made use of antenatal services which included use of IFA tablets from second trimester onwards. Out of this 302(29.7%) were not given any iron tablets and for those744(70.3%) who received IFA, it’s distribution varied widely from 30 tablets in case of 25.5% to 90 tablets in case of 19.9% women. CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATION:- Inadequate, excess or unwanted distribution, happening even in Chandigarh raises the high presumption of its happening in other areas too. Our efforts must be channelised more in ensuring of getting IFA issued versus getting these consumed by the pregnant women. KEY WORDS: misdistribution; IFA; pregnant women; anemia. 1. Varinder T Gautam, Yogesh Bansal, Devinder K Taneja, Gopal K Ingle. The study of compliance to IFA therapy and its effects on anaemia during pregnancy. Ind J. Prev.Soc,Med 2005, 36(4); 102-107. 2. Nisar Y B, Dibley M J (2014). Earlier initiation and use of a greater number of IFA supplementation during pregnancy prevent early neonatal death in Nepal and Pakistan. PLoS ONE, 9(11); e112446, doi; 10.1371/Journal. Phone.00112466, Nepal&Pakistan Demographers and Health Survey (NDHS & PDHS). 3. As per National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau (NNMB) 2002, a full data for Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Orissa and West Bengal demonstrated that 62.7% of pregnant women received IFA. 4. P Mithra, B Unnikrishnan, T Rekha, K Nithin, K Mohan, V Kulkarani, and D Agarwal. Afr Health Sci, Dec 2013. Compliance with iron folic acid (IFA) therapy among pregnant women in an unban area of South India. www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC 5056486, 5. D’ Agostino A, Fiedler J, Nekatebeb H. A Rapid, Initial Assessment of the Distribution & Consumption of IFA Tablets through Antenatal Care in 23 countries.Abstract
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