India lacks fresh anaemia statistics for women and children after three decades

For the first time since the National Family Health Surveys began in the 1990s, the latest round (2023-24) did not gather haemoglobin data, meaning India now lacks one outlet estimate of anaemia among women of reproductive age and young children. Earlier rounds had documented a modest decline in anaemia before a reversal in the fifth survey, which prompted large-scale iron supplementation programmes such as Anemia Mukt Bharat and POSHAN Abhiyan.

The newer India Diet and Biomarkers Survey (SAMPADA), which used venous blood and finished fieldwork in 2025, was intended to replace the older estimates but its findings remain unpublished. Without comparable data, the government cannot assess the impact of its interventions, and the limited district coverage of SAMPADA hampers local planning. Experts also warn that the finger-prick method employed in past NFHS rounds tends to over-estimate anaemia compared with the clinical gold-standard venous draw.