MANILA, 8 February 2006—WHO in the Western Pacific Region has undertaken pilot projects on the use of weekly iron/folic acid supplements to prevent anaemia in women of reproductive age in Cambodia, the Philippines and Viet Nam. Some 30,000 women were targeted by the programme in each country for a period of one year.
Iron deficiency anaemia causes decreased physical work and earning capacity and decreased resistance to fatigue. In pregnant women the effects of iron deficiency anaemia include increased maternal and foetal morbidity and mortality and increased risk of low birth weight. In infants and children, anaemia impairs motor development and coordination, language development and scholastic achievement.
Results of these projects have been published in a supplement of Nutrition Reviews, entitled: "Preventive Weekly Iron-Folic Acid Supplementation Can Improve Iron Status of Reproductive age Women: Experience in Cambodia, the Philippines and Viet Nam" (Volume 63, Supplement 1, December 2005). This publication is available on the website www.ingentaconnect.com/content/ilsi/nure/2005/00000063/a00112s1 and through the WHO/WPRO website at www.wpro.who.int/health_topics/nutrition/.
This publication will help to promote the application of this new approach more widely, based on published evidence, and lead to the development of guidelines for anaemia prevention programmes that include weekly iron/folic acid supplementation as a new strategy for different settings, such as schools, factories and the open market.