Implications of inconsistent anaemia policies for children and adolescents in Africa.

Objective To evaluate the quality of policies concerning the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of anaemia in children and adolescents; to determine to what extent these are evidence-based; and to use this analysis to inform the policy-making process. Subjects Children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa. Setting Almost 50 % of children and adolescents in sub-Saharan Africa are anaemic, which has profound effects on their intellectual and physical development and their chance of survival. Evidence-based policies are essential to reduce anaemia but because it is caused by an array of interdependent factors, developing policies is challenging. Design Forty-six policy documents concerning the diagnosis, treatment and prevention of anaemia in children and adolescents were identified and analysed. Results There was policy consensus on the usefulness of Fe supplements, the need to treat co-morbidities and the use of blood transfusions for severe anaemia. Information about diagnosis was scarce, and messages regarding the control of anaemia were mixed. Few of the policies were tailored for the African context and they were located on several websites hosted by different health programmes. Conclusions The weakest aspects of the policies and consequently the priorities for better policy making were: lack of adherence to WHO recommendations for guideline development; little involvement of African practitioners/policy makers in the guideline group and as peer reviewers; and lack of harmonisation, demonstrating the need to establish a single body responsible for developing/revising anaemia policies.