75% SC, 68% Muslim women anaemic

PATNA: Be it ignorance or for some other reasons, but the fact is that very few Muslim and dalit women of the state avail healthcare facilities.
Only two Muslim and three dalit women out of ten are allowed by their families to visit health centres while 68% of Muslim and 75% of scheduled caste (SC) women in the state are anaemic, according to national family health survey (NFHS-3) conducted by Union health ministry.
According to the survey, only 17% of the pregnant women go to health centres for antenatal care (ANC) three times required medically. Only 8% of scheduled caste and 12% of Muslim women had three or above ANC visits.
It also came to light that teenage pregnancy among SCs is almost five times higher compared to other castes and use of contraceptives is half among Muslims compared to other communities.