Jordan’s health ministry will start fortifying flour with iron and folic acid to combat iron deficiency anemia (IDA) in cooperation with the World Health Organization and UNICEF, reported the Jordan Times on Monday.
Saad Kharabsheh, general director of primary healthcare at the ministry, said on Sunday that iron would be added gradually to flour in some mills throughout the kingdom, and that the process would be expanded to cover all local mills in the next few years.
“We should battle IDA, as it is very common in the kingdom and affects a large percentage of the population,” noted Kharabsheh.
IDA is considered to be one of the most widespread micronutrient deficiencies on earth, with over two billion people afflicted.
A study conducted in Jordan by the ministry and UNICEF indicated that around 30 percent of pregnant women and 17 percent of children suffer from IDA – Albawaba.com
