Vitamin A deficiency in India

[vitrag24]

Vandana Shiva's claim that the green revolution states in India have shown higher incidence of vitamin A deficiency than the states which were relatively unaffected by green revolution. It would be useful to compare the pre- and post-green revolution scenarios. However, at the moment I am posting 1998 official Indian data providing information on percentage of population suffering vitamin A deficiencincy, specifically Bitot's Spot, in the different Indian states. Please note that the states of Haryana, Punjab and part (western) of Uttar Pradesh have had the maximum impact of the green revolution strategy. Chandigarh is the capital of both Punjab and Haryana and has a Union Territory status in India, that is why data is reported separately. Data on Uttar Pradesh has not been reported.

As you can see Chandigarh, Haryana and Punjab are quite high on the list
and one fails to understand the connection that Shiva has made between
agricultural technology and vitamin deficiency.

Table: Prevalence (%)of Vitamin A Deficeincy
|------------------+---------------|
| State/UT | Bitot's Spot |
| | (%) |
|------------------+---------------|
| Chandigarh | 0 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Goa | 0 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Himachal Pradesh | 0.01 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Tripura | 0.02 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Haryana | 0.04 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Delhi | 0.05 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Daman & Diu | 0.05 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Punjab | 0.12 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Bihar | 0.14 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Manipur | 0.14 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Meghalaya | 0.18 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Sikkim | 0.19 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Gujarat | 0.20 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Rajasthan | 0.22 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Kerala | 0.25 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Arunachal Pradesh| 0.34 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Nagaland | 0.35 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Dadra Nagar | 0.38 |
| Haveli | |
|------------------+---------------|
| Assam | 0.45 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Maharashtra | 0.72 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Karnataka | 0.77 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Andhra Pradesh | 0.79 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Orissa | 0.86 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Madhya Pradesh | 2.62 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Mizoram | 2.97 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Tamil Nadu | 3.11 |
|------------------+---------------|
| Pooled | 0.21 |
|------------------+---------------|


Source - India Nutrition Profile, Department of Women and Child
Development, Ministry of Human Resource Development,
Government of India 1998

http://www.gene.ch/gentech/2000/Jul/msg00162.html

[vitrag24]

Severe vitamin A deficiency in India during pulse polio
immunization

PDF:

http://www.icmr.nic.in/ijmr/2005/september/0912.pdf

Another PDF:

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http://www.unsystem.org/scn/archives/npp13/ch08.htm

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