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Khaleda calls for carrying forward salt-iodizing programme

UNB, New York
Prime Minister Khaleda Zia called for carrying forward the universal salt-iodizing programme and consistent work for improving health status of the poor and raising economic growth.
She made the suggestions in an intervention at a dialogue as world leaders yesterday began comprehensive deliberations at the United Nations for working out strategies to ensure a sound upbringing of world children.
"A lack of iodine in human body results in low learning capacity and poor health and these ultimately affect economic growth," she said co-chairing the roundtable on "A Smart Start for Children: The Network for the Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiencies" in a UN conference room.
The dialogue is part of the schedule of a three-day UN special session on state of world children that began at the United Nations headquarters yesterday morning.
In the intervention, the Prime Minister said Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) were recognised as a major public health problem in Bangladesh in early 90s. Cumulative loss of iodine from the soil because of floods and rains washing the delta perennially made the country extremely vulnerable to the dangers of iodine deficiency.
She said almost 84 million people, or 70 per cent of the country's
population, were detected as iodine-deficient in the early 90s.
However, Khaleda said IDD programme in Bangladesh was implemented with strong political commitment and administrative support and intensive collaboration with development partners.
A significant impact has been made by universal salt iodizing activities in Bangladesh over the last decade, resulting in a drastic reduction in IDD prevalence rate, the prime minister told her audience of world leaders.
She said urinary iodine deficiency and total goitre rate and visible goitre rate were significantly reduced following the action by the government with technical and financial assistance from UNICEF, Japan government and CIDA.
Khaleda said a unique costsharing scheme was developed in Bangladesh to ensure financial sustainability of salt-iodizing drive after negotiation between the government and the Bangladesh Salt Mill Owners Association.
The PM said about 30 per cent of households in Bangladesh were still not taking iodized salt owing to various reasons. New strategies have to be formulated to cover poor households and low-consumption districts to ensure universal consumption of iodized salt in the country.