About 75 attendees at the United Nations to the bureaucratically-denominated “Commemorative high-level plenary meeting devoted to the follow-up to the outcome of the special session on children” convened yesterday at UN headquarters in New York City to discuss “The untold story of prevention iodine deficiency” and “the need to complete the promise” made at the UN Special Session on Children in 1992.
Titled “A triumph in the making,” the session was conducted by The Network for the Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency and featured presentations by Network partners, including the Salt Institute, responses from UN delegations and general discussion.
Dr. Gerard Burrow, chairman of the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) led off, explaining the physiological implications of iodine deficiency and highlighting the 10-15% mental handicap imposed on children of iodine deficient and the great achievement of raising worldwide access to iodized salt to 70%.
Network chairman Alan Court of UNICEF estimated that 20-25% of the children in developing countries are impacted by iodine deficiency and that 28 million babies are born each year with the mental handicaps imposed by iodine deficiency, explained how The Network is targeting 14 high priority countries and congratulated the private salt-producing sector for their role in fashioning national coalitions to pursue salt iodization.
I represented the salt industry and reminded the group that the joint efforts culminating in the formation of the Network began at the industry-sponsored Salt2000 symposium and that a key to sustainable salt iodization is involvement not only of health ministries in the national coalitions, but ministries of commerce and industry. I emphasized that while technical assistance may be required to launch salt iodization, sustainable salt iodization requires an effective regulatory system with “level playing field” enforcement (the “biggest challenge”).
The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and Kiwanis International spoke of their funding commitment to the worldwide campaign to iodize salt. CIDA noted that global salt iodization costs only $12 million a year, so the problem is not money, but other barriers.
The ambassador from Egypt expressed recipients’ appreciation for support and outlined her country’s strong efforts to promote iodized salt. Delegates from India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Ghana, the Philippines, China and Bangladesh also delivered reports and expressed thanks for support from The Network and its partners. Among the interesting points raised were that some Ghanaians have a cultural aversion to iodized salt , that private producer involvement in Indonesia is responsible for a breakthrough achievement of 73% having access to iodized salt and Pakistan’s delegate voicing concern that his countrymen might shun iodized salt in their efforts to follow public health advice to cut salt out of their diet (I responded that salt was a necessary nutrient and suggested reviewing the online video of the 2006 presidential address from the International Society of Hypertension) which discusses the controversy among medical researchers on salt and its health consequences.
The session concluded with a stirring address from UNICEF deputy executive director Kul Gautam who commended the salt industry as the catalyst for sustainability and noted that because the cost of global iodization is quite modest, the challenge is being overlooked by those focusing on “big ticket” items like AIDS/HIV. The return on investment for salt iodization is $30 for every dollar invested, he noted, but that ROI is treated “like a state secret.” Gautam challenged the group to address the remaining 30% of the world’s population lacking access to iodized salt (“the most needy and vulnerable”), with “a new strategy” to iodize salt.