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Photo: IRIN

Testing salt to ensure it contains sufficient iodine

CAIRO, 3 October 2005 (IRIN) - The Egyptian government is stepping up efforts to promote the consumption of iodised salt in order to prevent children from suffering from brain damage as a result of iodine deficiency. Last week, the the Ministry of Health held a three-day workshop with the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and five local producers of iodised salt to discuss ways of ensuring that all salt consumed in the country contains adequate levels of iodine. Participants at the meeting told IRIN that industrial producers of iodised salt still suffered competition from cheaper sea salt which does not contain adequate levels of iodine. They explained that the sea salt was made by small-scale producers who evaporate sea water in shallow pans on the coast. Poor people often bought this salt because it was cheaper and unscrupulous street traders frequently adulterated iodised salt with sea salt, thereby reducing its iodine content, they noted. Iodine deficiency is the single most preventable cause of brain damage amongst children. According to UNICEF, universal salt iodisation has proved to be "the most cost-effective, sustainable and safe strategy to ensure sufficient consumption of iodine by all individuals". "We want to ensure that iodised salt is used in all Egyptian households," said Doctor Esmat Mansour, the head of Integrated Healthcare and Nursing at the Ministry of Health. Erma Manoncourt, the UNICEF representative in Egypt, told the workshop that household consumption of iodised salt had increased rapidly over the past five years and Egypt was on the verge of eliminating iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). "The Interim Demographic Health Survey of 2003 shows that the household consumption of iodised salt has increased from 56 percent in 2000 to 79 percent in 2003," she said. However, there are no reliable statistics on the extent of iodine deficiency among Egypt's population of over 70 million. "The prevalence is below 10 percent but we still don’t have any specific data on this matter," said Rajen Sharma, UNICEF's project officer for the Integrated Local Development department. Mansour said the Health Ministry was able to able to guage the local prevalence of iodine deficiency through cases of goitre, a swelling of the thyroid gland in the neck caused by a lack of iodine. "We know where there are cases of deficiency from cases of goitre and we make random samples to figure out the prevalence rates across the country," she said, without giving further details. Mansour said people should be made more aware of the importance of consuming iodised salt, especially in marginalized areas. "We need to ensure that iodised salt reaches all families and we need to make sure that they know the importance of consuming such salt. This is in addition to the eradication of the marketing of non-iodised salt across the country," she said. Zakariya Sabry, the head of quality control at the al-Nasr salt company, called for “a popular awareness campaign through the media and the Ministry of Health so that all individuals know the importance of consuming iodised salt and avoid the use of any other kind." He also called on government inspectors to be more vigilant in preventing the sale of salt that does not contain the vital mineral.