40% of the pregnant women in Moldova suffer from anemia. Doctors warn that the deficiency of iron and folic acid affects the physical and intellectual development of the fetus and increases the risk of complications during pregnancy and delivery. The data were presented in a seminar staged in Chisinau in a move to accelerate the process of fortifying the flour with iron and folic acid for contributing to the improved health of the population.

Interviewed by IPN, Galina Obreja, doctor of the National Public Health Center, said the deficiency of folic acid increases the risk of malformations in newborns, such as severe congenital anomalies of the spine. The intellectual development of the children born with anemia is slower. In time, their leaning and work capacity decreases. The Ministry of Health annually offers supplements with iron and folic acid to the value of over 3.8 million lei to pregnant women, but this is not enough for reducing the number of pregnant women suffering from anemia.

Galina Obreja recommended the future mothers to take supplements with iron and folic acid two months before conceiving a child so as to reduce the risk of anemia during pregnancy. Another suggestion is for the bread producers to fortify the bread with iron and folic acid, which is in fact the best method of reducing the impact of nutritional deficiencies.

UNICEF Representative in Moldova Nune Mangasaryan said that UNICEF supports the Government’s efforts to introduce the universal fortification of flour and voiced hope that the decision makers and producers will join efforts to hasten the fortification process so as to provide the population with a very important product for their health.

Jeff Gwirtz, the representative of the Global Flour Fortification Initiative based in Atlanta, the U.S., said that 68 countries have an advanced experience of preventing anemia by mandatory flour fortification programs. “This is the most cost-efficient measure for supplying the population with essential vitamins, being recognized as one of the ten accomplishments of the global public health in the last decade. The introduction of flour fortification in the practice of mills will reduce the incidence of anemia given that the bread is the basic food in the country,” he stated.

About 70% of the cases of anemia are due to the deficiency of iron and folic acid.