Doctor promotes iodised salt

Iodised salt is processed by the Bac Lieu Trading and Salt Joint Stock Co in the Mekong Delta province of Bac Lieu. Iodine deficiency causes goitre, stunts mental and physical growth and leads to miscarriages, a hospital director said. — VNA/VNS Photo Huynh Su

HA NOI — The use of iodised salt should continue beyond yesterday – the special day for the substance –, said the director of Ha Noi-based National Endocrinology Hospital, Dr Nguyen Van Tien.

Dr Tien said the effort was necessary because the use of iodine had again fallen to less than 70 per cent of the population although the elimination of iodine deficiency disorder was announced in 2005.

Iodine deficiency causes goitre, stunts mental and physical growth and causes miscarriages, he said.

The use of iodine-fortified salt each day was the best way to prevent this from happening.

Dissemination of information to make people more aware of the importance of iodised salt to promote deficiency disorder prevention, especially in the young, was part of yesterday's programme.

The national project will now focus on raising iodised-salt use to 90 per cent of the population.

Iodised-salt production will be closely supervised and information programmes strengthened to create the habit of buying and using iodised produce.

World Health Organisation statistics show that about 12 per cent of the world population suffer from goitre with 175 million of the victims bring in Southeast Asia. — VNS

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Experts warn of relapse into iodine deficiency

The National Hospital of Endocrinology has released a warning that the nation is in danger of relapsing into iodine deficiency after years of successfully eliminating the phenomena.

Its Director Nguyen Van Tien told a meeting in Hanoi on November 2 that a survey conducted by the hospital in 2009 showed that the use of standard iodine-added salt fell to 70 percent just four years after the nation declared the elimination of iodine deficiency in 2005.

Vietnam has undertaken a national campaign for the daily use of iodine-fortified salt, as the most effective and cheapest measure to prevent iodine deficiency- related disorders such as goitre and miscarriage, Tien said.

With the danger of the re-emergence of iodine deficiency cases, the nation has taken measures to encourage people to buy and use iodine salt, including the meeting held by the National Hospital of Endocrinology to respond to the National Day of Iodine Salt for All.

Tien added that his hospital is taking measures to increase the cover of standard iodine salt to at least 90 percent while tightening supervision of iodine salt quality in both workplace and households.

He pledged sufficient supply of iodine products as raw material for production establishments to meet customer demand./.

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