Salt iodisation diseases still widespread

Iodine deficiency related illnesses remain a problem in Kyrgyzstan mainly due to a shortfall in iodised salt production and imports of low quality salt flooding the market. "The situation as of today is very difficult. Domestic production is only 30-40 percent of what the country needs," Aleksandr Politkov, an expert at the Kyrgyz sanitary and epidemiological department, said at a recent seminar on salt iodisation in the capital, Bishkek. During the Soviet era, iodine deficiency related diseases were brought under control in Kyrgyzstan, and in the 1980s only occasional incidences occurred. However, that situation deteriorated after the mountainous republic gained independence in 1991. According to some estimates, almost 90 percent of the population in the south and some 55 percent in north of Kyrgyzstan are now once again suffering from iodine-deficiency disorders. In 1994, the Kyrgyz government approved and launched a national programme on preventing iodine deficiency related diseases. It laid down that none but iodised salt be imported and provided for the reorganisation of the domestic salt-processing production facilities at the Ketmen-Tiube salt deposits in the north. However, the government failed fully to implement the programme due to lack of funds, while the porous state of the country's borders with neighbouring countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States served to facilitate an influx of the non-iodised product. In an effort to tackle the issue, medical institutions carried regular checks at the spots where salt was sold, but the action failed to resolve the problem. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) has been supporting the nation's efforts to bring about the comprehensive iodisation of salt since 1994. A recent seminar on ways of supporting iodised salt producers was jointly conducted by UNICEF and the Kyrgyz sanitary and epidemiological department. The main focus of the event was on ways of helping the producers in terms of production technology and methods of checking the quality of iodised salt, thereby to ensure compliance with laid-down standards. Representatives from Kyrgyz presidential administration, government, health ministry and the Asian Development Bank, as well as heads of salt-producing enterprises attended the workshop. Politkov said that 60 percent of the salt being brought to the country was ordinary salt, and this was being consumed by most people due to its cheapness, while its availability was attributable to the ease by which it found its way into the country and the absence of control over the sale of the product. "The 20 percent Value Added Tax incorporated in the price of the legal and quality product makes it non-competitive on the market," said Baktybek Ishaliev, the president of the Kyrgyz Salt-Producers' Association, during the seminar. One of the outcomes of the event was an agreement reached among the salt-producers to establish the Kyrgyz Salt Organisation, which would coordinate the production of the commodity and other related issues. Iodine deficiency related disorders are among the world's most widespread non-infectious diseases. More than 1.5 billion people worldwide are exposed to lack of iodine, while 600 million people have enlarged thyroid glands and some 40 million are suffering from mental disorders - both as a result of iodine deficiency.