KARACHI: ‘50pc people at risk of iodine deficiency disorder’
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, May 11: The Sindh government and Unicef have decided to refocus their strategies against iodine deficiency disorders (IDDs), with the realisation that it is a national problem and not confined to the northern areas of the country only.
At a meeting on Friday, representatives of the Sindh health department, Unicef, World Food Programme, Micronutrient Unit and NGOs stressed the need to tackle the IDDs issue afresh and effectively in the province.
Preparing for a detailed planning and implementation guidelines to control IDD, the participants felt that universal salt iodisation (USI) was an effective measure to increase iodine levels in humans. They resolved that the Sindh government should be moved for the passage of USI legislation in order to ensure the maximum processing of iodised salt for human beings and discourage the common table salt at all levels in the province.
A number of serious health problems like preventable mental retardation, cretinism, reproductive failure and deaf-mutism are mainly caused due to iodine deficiency disorders.
Of over 2 billion people around the world, who are at the risk of IDD, more than 300 million are believed to be mentally impaired, while about 740 million suffer from goitre; thousands are either still-born or born as cretins.
According to Unicef estimates, about 50 per cent of the population in Pakistan is at risk of IDDs. Every second child born is at the risk of IDDs, while 23 per cent of the school aged children and 36.5 per cent of mothers of children under five are severely iodine deficient.
So far, only Balochistan and the NWFP have been able to introduce laws for a mandatory salt iodination, a process that is considered cost effective and relatively easy. Salt iodisation involves the addition of small quantity of iodine (30 to 100mg of iodine per kg of salt, or parts per million) in the forms of potassium iodide or potassium iodate.It was noted in the meeting that at present Pakistan was entering into the second phase of activities aimed at controlling IDDs through USI; there was a need to have national level commitment, with a sense of strategic direction, to achieve the targets of USI by year 2010 and IDD elimination by 2013. The Sindh government will launch the IDD control project on May 19 with the conduct of a seminar at Karachi, it was further learnt.
Apart from the IDD effects like congenital abnormalities, goitre and its complications, decreased fertility and spontaneous abortions, the loss of IQ points in children living iodine deficient environment was also considered and decided that the point could help a lot in convincing parents to promote the regular consumption of iodised salt.
Besides, making the communities at large, families and households realise the importance of regular use of iodised salt, it is also imperative that iodised salt should be made available in the market.
Talking to Dawn, one of the participants expressed the view that it cost not more than 20 to 45 paisa per kg extra to the processing organisation for producing adequately fortified iodised salt as they were provided the mineral in question.
Earlier, the government with the support of Unicef used to supply iodine to salt producers on subsidised rates and now the Micronutrient Initiative has been made responsible to continue the supply.
Universal salt iodisation in Pakistan was launched in 1994, while the responsibility was shifted to the provincial government from the national NGO in August 2000.
