The Nepali Ministry of Health and Population (MoHP) Child Health Division (CHD) released a five- year action plan aimed at checking the incidence of anemia among women and children, The Himalayan Times reported on Wednesday.

As per the new action plan, the government said Tuesday that it will concentrate its resources to provide Iron and Folic Acid tablets, change food consumption habits and expand de-worming programs among the targeted groups.

About 78 percent of the children below five, 75 percent of the pregnant women, 68 percent of all women are anemic, according to Micronutrient Survey Study, 1998, while 90 percent of children in the age group 6-11 months are anemic.

Director at the CHD Yasovardan Pradhan was quoted by the newspaper as saying that the implementation of the action plan as a national policy will help materialize the goals of the long-term health plan and to achieve the millennium development goals.

"It will also help check high maternal and child mortality rates," Pradhan said.

According to Nepal Demographic and Health Survey 2001, the maternal mortality rate is 539 per 100,000, the under-five mortality rate is 91 per 1000 live births, while the infant mortality rate stands at 64 per 1,000 live births.

Source: Xinhua