CREATING

AWARENESS
ABOUT ANAEMIA
IN THE VILLAGES
IN THENNUR AREA
Anisha Ekka 1701003
Mithun Chandran 1701035
Prasanna 1701039
Rahul Gulati 1701041
Rituraj 1701043
Satyam Verma 1701045
Sangeeta Pal 1701162
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 Payir Trust-A grass root Level
Organistion

Address: Thenur village

Perambalur District Tamil Nadu
621 114

Mr. Senthil, Founder of Payir

Dr. Preethi, Homeopathy Doctor
9047255257
7639611282

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About Payir : Grassroot Level organization

Sustainable
Nutrition Governance
Farming

Skills and Health &

Education
Likelihood Sanitation

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Anaemia – More than just ‘deficiency’

Anaemia is a decrease in the total amount of RBCs in the blood which lowers the
capacity to carry oxygen

Caused due to Blood loss, decreased RBC production, and increased RBC
breakdown

Affects 2.36 billion people worldwide.

Iron Deficiency Anaemia is the most commonly observed form.

Iron Deficiency Anaemia took 183,000 lives worldwide in 2013. 1 in every 5

maternal deaths in India is directly due to anaemia.
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Anaemia Prevalence in India

Severe Moderate Mild

India is one of the worst performers in
anaemia prevalence
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53% of women and 23% of men age 15-49 12

are anaemic.

Mere decrease of 2% in prevalence in

women between 2005-06 and 2015-16 1.1
40
9.7
Maternity status, schooling and household
wealth affect anaemia prevalence.
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Jharkhand, Haryana, West Bengal and Bihar

are among the worst hit states Male Female

Reference: National Family Health Survey 4

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Anaemia in Tiruchirappalli

Anaemia prevalence in Tamil Nadu is almost as same as the national average

Districts within the state exhibit startling figures of anaemia prevalence

Tiruchirappalli is the worst performing district in Tamil Nadu with 65.7%*

prevalence in women

Anaemia prevalence goes as high as 69.2%* in rural areas of Trichy

The state and national average for women residing in rural areas are 56.6%*
and 54%* respectively.

These factors led us to choose rural Trichy as the location and anaemia in women
as the subject of our MAD project

*National Family Health Survey 4 6

Problem Statement

Assessment of anaemia prevalence, identification of the possible

causes, and creating awareness in the villages of Echampatti and
Puduammapalayam
Overview
Challenges

• Changing scope of work during

Interview village Prepared
healthcare
first few weeks of the project
questionnaire for
workers the interview
Proposed Actions Insights
• Lack of expertise

• Resistance from people to listen

to us

Conducted • Differences in views about the

blood tests various government schemes to
Interview Payir and
Members curb anaemia
categorize
TG based on Carried out the Counseling
Hb levels survey of the TG sessions • Differences in views about the
and analysis medical practices and
treatments

• Five visits Problem Identification

• 60 KM from the campus Field Work
Analysis
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Problem Identification

Interviewed Payir members Interviewed healthcare workers

• Major health problems – malnutrition, anaemia
and renal failure
• Seven villages in the area where payir can
provide us necessary help for our work
• Focus on health through healthy diet and not by
medicines.
• No proper record of previous test conducted for
hemoglobin.
• People are not aware about the anaemia and its
impact.
• Not much aware about health schemes run by
government to curb anaemia.
• Not in favor of using supplements such as iron
and folic acid tablets
• Women in the villages complain about symptoms
related to anaemia.

Target Villages Target Problem Target Group

Ecchampatti Women in the age

Anaemia group 18-35 years
Puduammapalyam

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Field Work
Task 1: Questionnaire Preparation
• Interview questions were designed
to get more insights into the
possible reasons of high prevalence
of anaemia.
• Included some important questions
to the existing survey:
- Number of children and age
gap between children
- Monthly expenditure on
various food items
- Presence of toilets in house
- Type of stove used
- Number of pets
- Income
Task 2: Blood test for Hb levels
• Blood tests were conducted to
identify actual percentage of anemic
women in the target group.
• Collected basic details such as
name, age, marital status, number
of children, etc.
• Categorize* the target group as
following:
Normal (Hb: 12 – 14.5) 28%
Mildly Anaemic (Hb: 10 – 11.9) 55%
Moderately Anaemic (Hb: 7 – 9.9) 14%
Severely Anaemic(Hb: 7 or lower) 3%
*Categories are defined as per National Health Mission
technical guide. 10
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Field Work
Task 3: Interviews
• Interviews were done with 58
women
• The objective of the interview was
to identify the differences in the
lifestyle and food habits of the
anemic women and women with
normal hemoglobin levels.
• Women from each category of
anaemia were selected for the
interview.
• Visited household of each of the
selected women along with the
health workers to carryout the
interview.
Task 4: Counseling Sessions
• One-on-one counseling was done
and Women were educated about
anaemia, its causes and short-term
and long-term impact on health
• Awareness about importance of
nutritional diet and healthy lifestyle
• Healthy women were made to
interact with anemic women to
discuss about their lifestyle and
eating habits.
• Severely anemic women were
advised to go further medical test
at a nearby healthcare center
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Analysis: Insights from interview data analysis

• Most of the women with normal levels of hemoglobin were aware of the importance of healthy
lifestyle and eating habits.

• Most of the women who are either normal or mildly anemic belong to families with
comparatively higher income levels.

• Most of the moderately anemic women have very low family monthly income of around ₹ 3,500
per month.

• Most of the anemic women complained about headaches and irregular periods.

• There was no specific difference in the eating habits and lifestyle of women affected with
severe anaemia as compared to other women. They were suggested to undergo further tests
at the nearby health center to identify the root cause of such low hemoglobin levels.

• None of the women is currently consuming any iron supplements and are solely dependent on
their regular diet for micro-nutrients such as iron, magnesium, zinc, etc.

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Analysis: Insights Gained On The Problem

Unaware about the Increased Risk factors associated with Anemia

•Pregnancy complications.
•Heart problems.

Low Income
•Over half of the adolescent girls are anemic, but are never treated because they cant afford
as their family income is below 50k and are depended on the ration stores .

Superstitious Belief
•Villagers prefer priest over doctors for the treatment of anemia.

Lack of Awareness/Ignorance for the Symptoms of Anemia

•Fatigue
•Dizziness
•Pale Skin
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Task 3: Survey Task 4: Counseling Sessions

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Started the practice of maintaining records of the test conducted to track the improvements in the future.

The women are now more aware about the short-term and long-term effects of anaemia

The idea of making the healthy women discuss about their food habits with the anaemic women was more
effective.

We believe that the women will now incorporate healthy eating habits into their daily routine

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Minimum
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References

• Technical Document on anaemia by National Health Mission

http://nhm.gov.in/images/pdf/programmes/wifs/guidelines/technical_handbook_on_anaemia.pdf

• National Family Health Survey 4 – 2015-16

http://rchiips.org/nfhs/pdf/NFHS4/India.pdf

• National Health Mission Training Documents

http://nhm.gov.in/nrhmcomponnets/reproductive-child-health/adolescent-health/wifs/328-training-
material.html

• Wikivillage
https://www.wikivillage.in/

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