Children in Pakistan's northwest suffer IDD |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on [PUBL_DATE] |
"Iodine deficiency is a major health problem in Pakistan. According to the Islamabad-based Network for Consumer Protection, around 50 million people across the country suffer from it," the story summarizes. The story continues: "In 6.5 million people the problem of iodine deficiency is rated as "severe", while in many parts of the NWFP, where rain and rivers wash iodine and other minerals out of the soil, up to 90 percent of people outside major towns are said to suffer from some level of iodine deficiency."
Cost is commonly cited as a barrier to salt iodization in many areas. "But a quite different problem has plagued the campaign to promote and popularise iodised salt. 'Many people believe that this salt is a means of preventing reproduction and is being distributed as part of a Western conspiracy to stop the growth of the Muslim population,'" said a local physician.
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