Giribala Dewasthale has been a faculty member at IMDR for the past one decade. She did her BA from Fergusson College and MBA from the MBA Programme Centre, University of Pune in 1990, with specialization in the area of Marketing. After working in a service sector company for 3 years, she chose a career in teaching.  She teaches courses like Basic Marketing Concepts, Marketing Strategy, Services Marketing and Self Development; to the First and Second year students of the full time programmes in Management and International Trade at IMDR. She is also working as Faculty-in-Charge of the Library for the past two years.

She is also involved in many co-curricular and training activities. She is currently conducting a training programme in Sales and Product Management for an auto ancillary company in Pune. She has also conducted a training programme in Marketing Concepts for a software company in Pune.

Prof. Dewasthale can be reached at giribala@imdr.edu

Anaemia - A Major Health Problem of our Times

It is common knowledge that most women in India are anaemic. According to a WHO survey around 58% of all South Asia women are anaemic. In India it is estimated that 70% of all women are anaemic. Anaemia develops slowly and is usually not noticed early. If it is noticed, it is not taken seriously by women.

However, it seriously affects an individual’s capacity to work and learn. In India it has been noticed that the most vulnerable groups are women of child – bearing age and pre – school age children. Anaemia in pregnant women is known to cause maternal mortality and increased foetal mortality or morbidity or low birth – weight. In addition anaemia also adversely affects our immune system.

Anaemia reduces the oxygen carrying capacity of the blood. Iron is an important component of Haemoglobin, which combines with oxygen in the lungs and carries it wherever required. Therefore the commonest form of Anaemia is the one resulting from deficiency of iron.

Anaemic patients exhibit symptoms such as fatigue, breathlessness, giddiness, pallor of skin, palpitation.

In India, as our lifestyles are changing and also due to economic compulsions, an increasing number of women from all socio – economic classes are going out of the house to work. But her role as “home – maker” remains largely unchanged. So while a woman “nurtures” her family in terms of their health and well being, it is possible that she is neglecting her own health. Added to this are the social and cultural norms which suggest that a woman should always put the needs of her family before hers’. Therefore if the problem of anaemia in Indian women has to be tackled it has to be done keeping in mind this socio – cultural context and also the different roles that a woman is called upon to play every day.

Treatment

While medicinal iron in pill or tablet form has been around for a very long time, it does not have very high acceptance amongst women primarily because anything with a “medicinial’ connotation is viewed negatively. It also has other side effects as for example constipation.

The other alternative is a diet rich in iron. There needs to be an increased awareness about sources of dietary iron. Green leafy vegetables and whole grain cereals and meat are known to be rich in iron. While it is difficult to change the food habits of a lifetime, it would be easier to increase the intake of those foods which are already part of our diet and also rich in iron.

Today, there is an increased awareness about health and fitness. In consonance with this we see a number of products in the market which are “enriched” or “fortified” with iron or vitamins. These include wheat flour, cornflakes, fruit juices and oils. In addition there are dietary supplements, tonics, herbal foods and pills which are aimed at reducing iron or vitamin deficiencies. All this has given rise to a new but profitable niche in the market, namely, “nutraceuticals”. The global market for this category is estimated to be around $ 30 billion (Times of India, 27th July, 2000) and is attracting a lot of interest from pharmaceuticals, food product and chemical companies.

The students of IMDR worked in groups on a project to develop a new product concepts to correct iron deficiency anaemia in Indian women. These were presented at the Marketing Contest held at IMDR on 14th August 2000.

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