Your Excellency Hon. Harini Amarasuriya, Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
Hon’ble Dr. Nalinda Jayatissa, Minister of Health and Mass Media, Sri Lanka
Mr. Md Golam Sarwar, Secretary-General South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation;
Mr. Sanjay Weerasekera, Regional Director, UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia;
Officials of the Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka
Distinguished delegates and experts
Partners, colleagues and friends
A very good morning / afternoon to you all.
Despite more than 25 years of global attention, anaemia remains a significant burden, particularly among adolescents and women in South-East Asia.
The latest WHO Global Anaemia estimates paint a sobering picture. In India alone, anaemia affects an estimated 59.1% of adolescent girls and 52.2% of pregnant women.
In Nepal, one in three women of reproductive age is anemic. Across our region, approximately 244 million women are living with this condition.
The consequences can be devastating. Anaemia during pregnancy increases the risk of maternal hemorrhage and death. It contributes to poor birth outcomes, which can lead to lifelong impacts on health, development, and cognitive potential.
And yet, anaemia is both preventable and treatable. We know the causes: poor nutrition, iron deficiency, infections, chronic diseases, and pregnancy-related complications.
But, in many countries, this understanding has not been translated into effective, sustained action. National programmes are grappling with stagnating rates of anaemia reduction and uncertainty about the way forward.
This is why a more nuanced and evidence-driven conversation is urgently needed. This needs to focus on optimizing hemoglobin synthesis, preventing red blood cell destruction, and reducing blood loss. The WHO’s recent framework, Accelerating Anaemia Reduction Framework for Action, is a timely and strategic response to this need.
To make concrete progress, a multisectoral approach is critical. This means improving maternal and adolescent nutrition and ensuring access to primary health care and education. It means strengthening social protection. It means addressing infections, inflammation, heavy menstrual bleeding, and inherited blood disorders.
The WHO framework offers a roadmap—consolidating evidence and guiding how sectors can collaborate to overcome barriers and seize opportunities. Given the complexity of the causes of anaemia and considering the slow pace of progress over the past two decades, we have to act now with urgency, commitment and coordination.
At our WHO Regional Office for South-East Asia, one of my priority areas is a focus on the health women and children. In that context, I should mention that tackling the problem anaemia is not just about health—it is foundational to the well-being of our women and girls. Quite simply, it is as much an economic and social investment as a health investment.
I am heartened to see that this workshop is grounded in WHO’s comprehensive framework for anaemia reduction. The recent World Health Assembly Resolution to extend the Global Nutrition Targets - including the anaemia target - to 2030, gives us a renewed mandate to act.
I am pleased to see the collective spirit on display at this conference, through the partnerships between SAARC, UNICEF and other stakeholders. Our WHO South-East Asia Regional Office, and our country offices, stand ready to support you and our Member States in this worthy endeavor.
I wish you all productive and insightful deliberations, and I look forward to being appraised of the outcomes.
Thank you.