India's fight against anaemia picks up pace, but states need to do more

Anaemia occurs when the concentration of haemoglobin in blood decreases. With oxygen not reaching all organs and tissues of the body, the person is more prone to infections

It was past 2 p.m. Khusbu Chaudhari, 24, seven months pregnant, was lying on a bed in the general ward at the Ballabhgarh Government Hospital in Haryana’s Faridabad. A thin plastic bag with her medical file lay next to her.
 

Seven days before, when Chaudhari had first visited the hospital after moving here from her mother’s home in Mumbai, her haemoglobin was 8.2 gm/dL--much below the normal range (12-16 gm/dL) for women. This meant she had moderate anaemia--which, during pregnancy, can be very risky for her and her child.

A health assistant herself, Chaudhari did not want to