Panama
| Nicaragua | Vitamin A |
Panama |
Iodine | Paraguay |
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| MN Project Home Page | Bookmarks | |
| Country Index | Current Situation | |
| Country Profile | Epidemiological Data | |
| Policy & Legislation | ||
| Program Data | ||
| Monitoring | ||
| Program Resources | ||
CURRENT SITUATION |
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The prevalence of anemia in pregnant women and children was measured to be 36.3 and 36.0% respectively in a national survey conducted in 1999. The Azuero region has a lower prevalence of anemia in school children (39.5% for ages 6-12 years) than the rest of the country (49.1%) for the same age group. There are currently supplementation and fortification programs in place as well as de-worming and malaria prevention programs. Panama also has implemented national programs to promote improved iron status through dietary change. |
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EPIDEMIOLOGICAL DATA |
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| Anemia | ||
| Most Recent Anemia Survey | ||
| Date: | 1999 | |
| Groups Surveyed: | Children of 12 to 59 months, students, pregnant women and women of reproductive age. | |
| Sample Size: | 3293 | |
| Sampling Method: | The study on pre-school students, pregnant women and women of reproductive age has released nationally representative data for high-priority and non-high-priority districts. The sample for prevalence estimation was determined as a function of prevalence of anemia in children of 1 to 4 years, in pregnant women and women of reproductive age. The determination of such a large sample for a design of simple random sampling was made by means of the Fleiss procedure to be able to make comparisons between population groups. The 28 districts considered high-priority or of extreme poverty were considered like one layer and the rest of the country like another layer. The sample of homes included 62 clusters. All the houses with children of 12 to 59 months at the time of the survey within the cluster were included. The size of sample to study anemia in students was based on information from the prevalence found in previous studies was not more of 20% in students from urban areas and around 70% in students from indigenous rural areas. Because the prevalence of 70% approaches more the maximum value of the variance, this calculation of sample size was used. The calculated size of sample was 600 students, divided between the layers, Azuero and the rest of the country. | |
| Estimated Anemia Prevalence: | ||
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*Estimated population affected based on the US Census International Database mid-year population 2000. Population affected is based on children ages 0-4 years of age and for school children based on ages 5-14 years. |
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POLICY AND LEGISLATION |
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| Legislation on IDA |
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Panama has a current policy to address iron deficiency. It was announced in 1999 and there is legislation addressing fortification and supplementation. The government has published documents that state the national policy regarding iron deficiency. There is a national policy for iron supplementation for pregnant women and for children. For pregnant women, the program is universally implemented. |
| Government Agency to Address IDD | |
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The Ministry of Health addresses iron deficiency. |
PROGRAM DATA |
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| Supplementation | |
| Program Description - Pregnant and Post-partum Women | |
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Iron supplementation for pregnant and post-partum women was established in 1998 and is still in operation. |
| Targeting | |
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Pregnant and post partum women. |
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Number targeted: 59,052 pregnant women and 93,783 post-partum women. |
| Capsule Information | |
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Type of capsules provided were 60 mg iron + 250 mcg folic acid. |
| Implementation | |
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Supplements are provided during prenatal and postnatal periods. |
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They are distributed to postpartum women once per week for 8 months and to pregnant women once per day from 20 weeks gestation until the birth of the child. |
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In 1998, there were 23,589,333 tablets distributed. |
| Implementation | ||||||||||
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| Program Description - Children | ||||||||||
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Premature infants, infants of low birth weight, infants 4-11 months, children 1-5 years and students. Targets premature infants, number targeted: 487,984 children. |
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| Summary of Supplements Provided by Age Group - Children | |||||||||||||||||||||
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- Supplements distributed by the Ministry of Health and provided by teachers. |
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- Supplement frequency: |
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Infants: Daily—2mg/kg/day |
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Children 1-4 years: Weekly (3 mg/kg/week) |
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Students: Weekly 1 60mg dose/week |
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Program started in 1998 |
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Summary of Supplements Distributed by Year |
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| Fortification | |||||||||||||||||||||
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Wheat flour is currently fortified. It is legislated to be fortified with 60mg iron/kg and 1.5 mg folic acid/kg. |
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Iron fortificant and micronutrient premixes are primarily imported. | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Other Programs | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Education Campaigns | |||||||||||||||||||||
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There currently are large-scale or national programs to promote improved iron status through dietary change. The programs are run by health centers, health professionals, and teachers. |
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De-worming Programs |
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Massive de-worming campaigns for pre-school children who attend health facilities and to children in schools. |
| Malarial Programs | |
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Malaria control programs are in place through the Division of the Control of Vectors. Insecticide spraying and community involvement in the interruption of the vector life cycle are utilized. |
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| Anemia | |
| Current monitoring activities for iron deficiency anemia: | |
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Monitoring activities include monitoring the prevalence of anemia in pregnant women that attend prenatal care appointments at MoH facilities and monitoring the prevalence of anemia in school children in school health programs |
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There is community-based monitoring of anemia with laboratory facilities to determine hemoglobin and hematocrit levels for diagnosis of anemia. |
| Programs | |
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There is a monitoring system for programs. A registry exists to monitor doses of the iron supplements provided, which allows for monitoring of the coverage of the program. Fortification is monitored at the wheat factories twice a year. |
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| Total Iron Program Funding History and Forecast for Country | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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