• South Asia

South Asia

Iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia are common in young children, and there is substantial evidence that iron deficiency has adverse effects on child health and development. This report from the World Health Organisation argues that provision of additional iron to infants and young children who are iron deficient should be a public health priority. The document details a consultation convened to examine two large trials conducted in Zanzibar, Tanzania and Nepal which evaluated the impact of zinc and/or iron–folic acid supplementation on the mortality and severe morbidity of preschool children. The objectives of the consultation, which focused on infants and young children in malaria-endemic areas, were to review the scientific evidence on the safety and efficacy of different ways of administering iron to control iron deficiency and iron-deficiency anemia.

The consultation also provides guidance on the safest, most feasible, and most effective ways of delivering additional iron to control iron deficiency and anemia in such areas. The report concludes that strategies to control iron deficiency should be carried out in the context of comprehensive and effective health care, including the provision of insecticide-treated nets and vector control for the prevention of malaria, and prompt recognition and treatment of malaria and its complications with effective antimalarial and antibiotic drug therapy. The authors also considers mechanisms of adverse effects of iron administration, evidence of benefits of interventions to improve iron status in infants and young children and ways to deliver additional iron to infants and young children in malaria-endemic regions.

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