Anaemia in Kavaratti Island, Lakshadweep: Perspectives from a Hospital Based Study

IntroductionAnaemia is a major public health problem in developing countries like India. Kavaratti Island, Lakshadweep is a remote island located in Arabian sea. There is no data on anaemia available from here. Objectives of this study are to examine status of anaemia and compare the data with Indian, Kerala and Maldives figures. Materials & MethodsA total of 2000 patients were studied. Data from the anaemic individuals was collected and analyzed. The study group was subsequently divided into smaller subgroups on the basis of age and sex for analysis. The anaemia was also correlated with other haematological parameters like TLC, DLC, platelet count and ESR. ResultsThe prevalence of anaemia in adult males was 21.5% and in females 37.8%. In pregnant females anaemia was still more common (47.5%). Among children 24.6% were anaemic with female children showing higher percentage (27.4%) than males (22.9%). Anaemia was quite common in the elderly (36.6%) and even higher in elderly females (43.5%). Elderly males showed alterations in TLC and DLC while alteration in platelet count was most common in male children. DiscussionThe present study is the first study to examine anaemia at Kavaratti Island, Lakshadweep. On comparison the anaemia indicators were found to be vastly superior than those from India, Kerala and Maldives. However, in adult females and elderly females the situation demands urgent public health intervention. Conclusion – Anaemia is significantly less common in Kavaratti island, Lakshadweep. The important lessons learnt can be implemented in other places to bring down the prevalence of anaemia.