NIN study finds community screening helps cut anaemia

A study by ICMR-NIN found that the STAR strategy significantly reduced anaemia in Telangana villages. Community-level screening and doorstep iron-folic acid supply proved effective, especially among adolescent girls and women of reproductive age.

Hyderabad: A study published by the National Institute of Nutrition (ICMR-NIN) provides strong evidence that a population-based ‘Screen and Treat for Anaemia Reduction’ (STAR) strategy is both feasible and effective in reducing anaemia, particularly among vulnerable groups such as adolescent girls and women of reproductive age.

Carried out in 14 villages of Telangana, the study evaluated a population-level approach in which individuals aged six months to 50 years were actively screened for anaemia at the community level and provided iron-folic acid (IFA) supplementation at their doorstep based on their haemoglobin status.

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This cluster-randomised trial compared the STAR strategy with the routine services available under existing national programmes. The STAR strategy group had 6,131 participants, while the control group had 5,255 participants.

The study, published in the BMJ Global Health journal, showed that among adolescent girls aged 10–19 years, there was a 15.3 per cent reduction in anaemia prevalence, along with an increase in mean haemoglobin levels by 0.73 g/dL.

Among women of reproductive age, anaemia prevalence decreased by 4.4 per cent. “Overall anaemia prevalence was found to be significantly lower in the STAR intervention group,” said Dr Raghu P, Scientist F, who co-led the study.

“The findings confirm that a population-level screen-and-treat strategy for anaemia reduction is feasible and can address key gaps in identification and coverage of IFA supplementation,” said Dr Bharati Kulkarni, Director, NIN.