Anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age in low- and middle-income countries between 2000 and 2018
Damaris K. Kinyoki, Aaron Osgood‐Zimmerman, Natalia V. Bhattacharjee, Local Burden of Disease Anaemia Collaborators, Lauren E. Schaeffer, Alice Lazzar-Atwood, Dan Lu, Samuel B Ewald, Katie M. Donkers, Ian D. Letourneau, Michael L. Collison, Megan F. Schipp, Amanuel Alemu Abajobir, Sima Abbasi, Nooshin Abbasi, Mitra Abbasifard, Mohsen Abbasi‐Kangevari, Hedayat Abbastabar, Foad Abd-Allah, Ahmed Abdelalim, Sherief Abd‐Elsalam, Amir Abdoli, Ibrahim Abdollahpour, Aidin Abedi, Hassan Abolhassani, Biju Abraham, Lucas Guimarães Abreu, Michael R.M. Abrigo, Ahmed Abualhasan, Eman Abu‐Gharbieh, Abdelrahman Ibrahim Abushouk, Manfred Accrombessi, Maryam Adabi, Oladimeji Adebayo, Adeyinka Emmanuel Adegbosin, Victor Adekanmbi, Olatunji Adetokunboh, Daniel A Adeyinka, Davoud Adham, Shailesh M Advani, Pradyumna Agasthi, Mohammad Aghaali, Sohail Ahmad, Tauseef Ahmad, Keivan Ahmadi, Sepideh Ahmadi, Muktar Beshir Ahmed, Miloud Taki Eddine Aichour, Budi Aji, Oluwaseun Akinyemi, Addis Aklilu, Chisom Joyqueenet Akunna, Ziyad Al‐Aly, Turki M Alanzi, Jacqueline Elizabeth Alcalde‐Rabanal, Biresaw Wassihun Alemu, Ayinalem Alemu, Robert Kaba Alhassan, Sheikh Mohammad Alif, Vahid Alipour, Hesam Alizade, Syed Mohamed Aljunid, Amir Almasi‐Hashiani, Hesham M. Al‐Mekhlafi, Rajaa Al‐Raddadi, Nelson Alvis‐Guzmán, Saeed Amini, Fatemeh Amiri, Dickson A Amugsi, Nahla Anber, Robert Ancuceanu, Tudorel Andrei, Masresha Tessema Anegago, Mina Anjomshoa, Fereshteh Ansari, Alireza Ansari‐Moghaddam, Zelalem Alamrew Anteneh, Ernoiz Antriyandarti, Davood Anvari, Razique Anwer, Muhammad Aqeel, Jalal Arabloo, Morteza Arab‐Zozani, Olatunde Aremu, Habtamu Abera Areri, Al Artaman, Afsaneh Arzani, Malke Asaad, Mehran Asadi-Aliabadi, Ali A. Asadi‐Pooya, Mulusew Andualem Asemahagn, Mohammad Asghari Jafarabadi, Mengistu M. Ashebir, Zerihun Ataro, Seyyede Masoume Athari, Seyyed Shamsadin Athari, Maha Atout, Marcel Ausloos, Nefsu Awoke, Beatriz Paulina Ayala Quintanilla
Abstract
Anemia is a globally widespread condition in women and is associated with reduced economic productivity and increased mortality worldwide. Here we map annual 2000-2018 geospatial estimates of anemia prevalence in women of reproductive age (15-49 years) across 82 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), stratify anemia by severity and aggregate results to policy-relevant administrative and national levels. Additionally, we provide subnational disparity analyses to provide a comprehensive overview of anemia prevalence inequalities within these countries and predict progress toward the World Health Organization's Global Nutrition Target (WHO GNT) to reduce anemia by half by 2030. Our results demonstrate widespread moderate improvements in overall anemia prevalence but identify only three LMICs with a high probability of achieving the WHO GNT by 2030 at a national scale, and no LMIC is expected to achieve the target in all their subnational administrative units. Our maps show where large within-country disparities occur, as well as areas likely to fall short of the WHO GNT, offering precision public health tools so that adequate resource allocation and subsequent interventions can be targeted to the most vulnerable populations.