2.1m babies born with intellectual impairment
More than 2.1 million babies born with severe intellectual impairment caused by iodine deficiency.
ISLAMABAD:
More than 2.1 million babies in Pakistan are born with severe intellectual impairment caused by iodine deficiency. Belum Hasnain, chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, said this during an awareness campaign seminar arranged for World Day on Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in Islamabad on Friday.
She said that Pakistan needed an “effective legislation” on iodised salt and a resolution “Iodine salt is better for health” will be tabled in the next session of national assembly.
“Nearly 38 million of the world’s newborns are at a risk of brain damage due to [IDD],” she said, adding that most of these children came from families that were uneducated, isolated or poor. Hasnain emphasised the importance of media and lady health workers in the promotion of iodised salt intake and the removal of misconceptions about it.
Speakers at the seminar highlighted that the objective of ensuring 100 per cent availability of iodised salt in markets by 2015, set by the Health Ministry, can only be achieved through vigorous and sustained collaboration between the government, media and civil society and United Nations’ bodies.
Earlier during his welcome remarks, Dr Arif Azad, the executive coordinator of the Network for Consumer Protection, quoted Henry Labouisse -- former Executive Director of Unicef and Nobel Peace Prize winner -- that iodine deficiency is so easy to prevent that it is a crime to let a single child be born mentally handicapped for that reason.
Azad said media could play a key role to create awareness about diseases caused by iodine deficiency. “The prime objective of the event was to bring all stakeholders ‑‑ the media, government departments, civil society organisations -- on board so that effective strategy could be evolved to uproot iodine deficiency disorders from the country by 2015,” he said.
The seminar was organised by The Network for Consumer Protection in collaboration with Ministry of Health, Unicef, WFP, WHO, and others.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2010.
More than 2.1 million babies in Pakistan are born with severe intellectual impairment caused by iodine deficiency. Belum Hasnain, chairperson National Assembly Standing Committee on Information and Broadcasting, said this during an awareness campaign seminar arranged for World Day on Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in Islamabad on Friday.
She said that Pakistan needed an “effective legislation” on iodised salt and a resolution “Iodine salt is better for health” will be tabled in the next session of national assembly.
“Nearly 38 million of the world’s newborns are at a risk of brain damage due to [IDD],” she said, adding that most of these children came from families that were uneducated, isolated or poor. Hasnain emphasised the importance of media and lady health workers in the promotion of iodised salt intake and the removal of misconceptions about it.
Speakers at the seminar highlighted that the objective of ensuring 100 per cent availability of iodised salt in markets by 2015, set by the Health Ministry, can only be achieved through vigorous and sustained collaboration between the government, media and civil society and United Nations’ bodies.
Earlier during his welcome remarks, Dr Arif Azad, the executive coordinator of the Network for Consumer Protection, quoted Henry Labouisse -- former Executive Director of Unicef and Nobel Peace Prize winner -- that iodine deficiency is so easy to prevent that it is a crime to let a single child be born mentally handicapped for that reason.
Azad said media could play a key role to create awareness about diseases caused by iodine deficiency. “The prime objective of the event was to bring all stakeholders ‑‑ the media, government departments, civil society organisations -- on board so that effective strategy could be evolved to uproot iodine deficiency disorders from the country by 2015,” he said.
The seminar was organised by The Network for Consumer Protection in collaboration with Ministry of Health, Unicef, WFP, WHO, and others.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 23rd, 2010.