Over the weekend, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation aired an interview with Vankatesh Mannar on their program "The Sunday Edition." Vankatesh Mannar is the President of the Ottawa-based Micronutrient Initiative . The Micronutrient Initiative is dedicated to ensuring that the world's most vulnerable - especially women and children in developing countries - get the vitamins and minerals they need to survive and thrive.

Host Michael Enright focused on the benefits of salt iodization for the diets of people in developing countries. It is estimated that as many as 50 countries could prevent the loss of intellectual capacity by as much as 10 to 15 percentage points if young children, newborns, and pregnant mothers received enough iodine. It is critical to reach women of childbearing age and young children. Given how difficult it is to target these two groups, the global strategy of choice for preventing iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) is universal salt iodization (USI). Because salt is commonly consumed, even in impoverished areas, it is an ideal vehicle to carry iodine. Adding iodine to salt provides protection from brain damage due to iodine deficiency for whole populations, helping people and countries reach their full potential.

This interview was very timely, coming just before the IDD Network Board meeting, which Dick will participate in, to be held in Jaipur, India later this month.