In developing countries and resource-poor settings around the world, anaemia affects 46–66% of children; 80% of all children in these countries will suffer some degree of anaemia before their 18th birthday. (1-3) The effects of childhood anaemia have been investigated across many disciplines, and range in severity from mild and reversible developmental impairment (3-6) to greater risks of infection7 to mortality rates as high as 12.5%. (8) In 1996, after a nationwide survey, the South African Vitamin A Consultative Group (SAVACG) reported that 1 in 5 South African children were anaemic (Hb 11 g/dl). (9) Subsequent reports showed anaemia to be present in 37–65% of otherwise well children in rural KwaZulu-Natal, (10,11) 73% of HIV-infected children in Cape Town, (12) and 9–10% of children in 2 informal settlements near Bloemfontein. (13) These figures suggest the effects that geography, health and socio-economic status can have on the observed prevalence of anaemia within a given community, and validate Faber’s observation that ‘the values determined by only one survey, although national, cannot be extrapolated to specific geographical areas’.
By South African Medical Journal