Global anaemia reduction efforts among women of reproductive age: impact, achievement of targets and the way forward for optimizing efforts

Overview

This review updates and shares new resources for those seeking to implement anaemia reduction efforts worldwide. The purpose of the review is to help Member States and their partners in their efforts to understand and make informed decisions on the appropriate nutrition actions needed to prevent and control anaemias. This review is directed to a wide audience, including, but not limited to policy-makers, economists and technical and programme staff in ministries and organizations involved in the design, implementation and scaling-up of nutrition actions for public health.

The objective is to summarize and reference key information and resources that can be applied in these anaemia reduction efforts, including (i) the scope of factors associated with anaemia that should be addressed in the process of applying anaemia reduction efforts – both direct and indirect causes or factors found to be directly associated with anaemia; (ii) a compendium of efforts recommended and feedback from those working on anaemia reduction in different countries; and (iii) steps to consider in terms of priority and readiness in the path for anaemia reduction.

Results from qualitative interviews/surveys performed for this review show that better results in anaemia reduction were obtained in countries where programmes were premised on a multisectoral approach, with involvement of all sectors working synergistically. In fact, lack of knowledge about specific activities/indicators/programmes or lack of/poor coordination between different programmes made it difficult to track anaemia reduction progress in all the different ministries and departments involved.

The evidence presented in this review clearly reiterates the critical importance of addressing anaemia from multiple perspectives and through multiple coordinated efforts, including multiple government sectors, nongovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies and the private sector- each with specific and complementary roles to accomplish in reducing anaemia.