P&G Health, the health care division of Procter & Gamble, has launched India’s first ‘Iron Deficiency Diagnosis and Counselling Guide’ on the occasion of Iron Deficiency Day 2021. Mainly aimed at helping pharmacists, the guide was developed using the ASHP (American Society of Health-System Pharmacists) Guidelines on Pharmacist-Conducted Patient Education and Counseling and IDA-specific management considerations from peer-reviewed literature. Launching the guide, the company claimed that, with its novel 4-step framework, will equip pharmacists to better engage and counsel patients on iron deficiency anemia (IDA). With no existing or consistent guide in place for dealing with IDA, 84 percent of patients end up being under-diagnosed especially since symptoms for IDA are vague with some patients being asymptomatic.

As of today, there are approximately 2.3 billion people globally suffering from anemia, with an estimated one in two attributed to IDA. Patients experience symptoms such as frequent tiredness, dizziness, paleness, and impaired immunity, which thus impacts their quality of life, mobility, and productivity. Many patients remain asymptomatic. Southeast Asia and Africa continue to report the highest prevalence rates of anemia, accounting for 85 percent of global reported cases.