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Author: Food and Nutrition Bulletin
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This review presents evidence on the impact on maternal mortality of iron–folic acid supplementation from observational studies that were analyzed for the Global Burden of Disease analysis in 2004, summarizes findings from other reviews on this topic, and presents data on anemia reduction from two large-scale national programs as well as factors responsible for high coverage with iron–folic acid supplementation. The authors argue that iron–folic acid supplementation is an underresourced, affordable intervention with substantial potential for contributing to maternal mortality reduction in countries where iron intake among pregnant women is low and anemia prevalence is high. The authors further highlight the need to systematically adopt lessons from successful programs about strengthening demand and supply systems.

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