PESHAWAR, Aug 13: Iodine deficiency disorder causes pregnancy-related problems for women, says a Unicef report.

“Iodine-deficient women have more miscarriages, stillbirths and other pregnancy-related problems than iodine-sufficient women. Consuming iodine actually improves reproductive performance of women,” said Dr Fayyaz Ali, assistant director of the reproductive health department.

People had developed misconceptions regarding iodine that it was being used for family planning purposes, he said.

According to the report, the disorder lessens children’s resistance power against infectious diseases and weakens their brains.

Among adult population, lack of iodine results in thyroid deficiency and impaired mental functioning.

People suffering from the disorder have been found hard to educate and motivate, and thus are slow in executing their work.

The disorder is one of the major micronutrient deficiencies affecting approximately 50 per cent of the population of Pakistan. It first surfaced in 1906 and is now turning into a severe epidemic in the Northern Areas, where 68 per cent of students suffer from goitre (abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland).

Baltitstan, Skardu and Gilgit in the Northern Areas, Malakand and Hazara division of the NWFP, the AJK and northern parts of Punjab are reportedly among the world’s most severely endemic areas, said the report.

A study carried out in Gilgit and Chitral in 1906-1910 showed prevalence of goitre in 11.8 to 45.8 per cent of the population. Another study carried out by the WHO in 1960 in the Northern Areas revealed that 10 to 72 per cent of the school going children suffered from goitre.

In Pakistan the Universal Salt Iodization (USI) programme was launched in 1994 under which detailed planning and implementation guidelines were developed for provinces. About 18,000 lady health workers were trained in order to counter the disorder.