Effect of following a strategy evolved for prevention and management of Anaemia in a rural area of Jammu J&K

Introduction: Anaemia is a major public health problem among all age groups in India. The incidence is highest among women of childbearing age and young children. It causes a significant impairment of maximal work capacity, both physical & mental. Aims and Objectives: A. To determine the Prevalence of Anaemia among people in a rural area in Jammu. B. Correction of Anaemia following a strategy evolved for prevention and management of Anaemia. Materials and Methods: The study was conducted in village Kharian of rural field practice area of the department of community medicine of Government Medical College, Jammu. Whole of the population of this village was included in the study involving a door to door house hold survey. All the members of household were included and were administered a pretested questionnaire collecting data on the various variables. De worming of all the people under study with Albendazole was done and Iron folic acid in appropriate doses were administered daily to all diagnosed as anaemic after doing the haemoglobin estimation. Repeat haemoglobin estimation of the same persons was carried out after three months of treatment following all the strategies of anaemia control. Results: Following the strategies adopted, there was a steady rise in haemoglobin level and it continued rising till completion of three months of follow up showing mean rise of 2.350 GMS% in haemoglobin levels. Conclusions: It was seen that after three months of iron supplementation to the Anaemic cases the haemoglobin level continued rising till completion of three months follow up period and these strategies can be adopted for anaemia control.