AFGHANISTAN: National iodine campaign

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

KABUL, 20 Apr 2005 (IRIN) - A nationwide multi-media campaign was launched on Tuesday calling on Afghan families to use iodised salt, following new findings which indicate that Afghanistan is facing a high prevalence of iodine-deficiency disorders, including goitre, stunted physical growth and mental retardation.

The campaign is using radio and television spots, posters and banners and point-of-sale information leaflets that will show consumers the benefits of consuming iodised salt.

According to the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) less than one-third of households in Afghanistan use iodised salt – the simplest, cheapest and most sustainable way of introducing health-enhancing iodine into the diet.

Iodine deficiency is believed to result in 500,000 babies being born each year in Afghanistan with intellectual impairment, while 70 percent of school-age children are iodine deficient, a UNICEF study in 2003 indicates. Lack of iodine is thought to result in a reduction in IQ by as much as 15 percent.

“We have to increase the demand for iodised salt and that is why this campaign is being launched, it is all about getting people to go to the market place and choose iodised products instead of the non-iodised products,” Edward Carwardine, a UNICEF spokesman, told IRIN as the campaign was launched in the capital, Kabul, on Tuesday.

“Certainly in terms of supply, there is enough to meet the needs of the whole population,” Carwardine said, adding that there were 10 iodised salt production plants in the country.

The new campaign, led by the Ministry of Public Health with the support of UNICEF, builds upon a successful increase in the production of iodised salt following the establishment of iodised salt plants in Afghanistan since 2003, Carwardine added.

With the flowering of broadcast media in post-Taliban Afghanistan, radio and television are being utilised more widely for health education. The country has one of the lowest rates of literacy in the world, but there are more than 40 local radio and five TV stations now operating.

But health workers believe the problem needs more than just a media campaign to solve. “The government should impose a ban on the use of non-iodised salt or shopkeepers should be encouraged to introduce iodised salt to rural customers, many of whom do not have access to messages through the media,” Hasinajan, a health worker at the MOPH told IRIN.

The costs of iodised salt are broadly comparable to non-iodised salt, UNICEF maintains.

The campaign also serves to help consumers recognise genuine iodised salt in the marketplace through the introduction of an official seal that identifies government-approved quality iodised salt.

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