Convening partners to address the high rates of anaemia in Zambia

In Zambia, anaemia is one of the major health concerns for pregnant women. In 2016, it was found that a staggering 39.1% of women suffered with anaemia during pregnancy. This can lead to poor foetal growth, low birth weight as well as increasing the risk of miscarriage, stillbirth and infant death. Although the uptake of pregnant women taking iron and folic acid supplements (the usual treatment for anaemia) has been relatively high, it has failed to address the high prevalence of anaemia in the country. Another solution is needed.

Our programme

Multiple micronutrient supplementation is a relatively new innovation in the nutrition sector and has the potential to transform the way we support women’s health and address micronutrient deficiencies. It’s a mix of 15 vital micronutrients and vitamins in their recommended doses (which includes iron and folic acid), therefore offering more support than the traditional iron and folic acid (just two). It’s particularly useful for women in settings where micronutrient intake is low or not always guaranteed.

The goal of the programme is to pilot the use of multiple micronutrient supplementation in Zambia as a more regular treatment for pregnant women, to provide vital evidence to support the scale-up of the intervention. The Power of Nutrition co-designed the research component to the programme along with World Vision, the Ministry of Health in Zambia and Vitamin Angels who also act as our implementing partner. Our collective aim has been to identify opportunities and challenges related to delivering multiple micronutrient supplementation within the public health system and implement a distribution system. This work has been supported by Kirk Humanitarian (who has contributed the product itself to the programme, as an in-kind donations) and UK Aid.