Dimapur, August 10 (MExN): While efforts are on to bring down the level of iodine deficiency related diseases (IDD) in Nagaland, the department of Food and Civil Supplies today revealed that it has not received iodised salt supply for the past two years. Iodised salt meant to feed the state’s population through the public distribution system (PDS) has not been met owing to non-appointment of ‘salt stockist’ in the state – a circumstance arising due to peoples’ preference for superior quality salt available in the free trade market.
Giving a brief account on the procurement and distribution of iodised salt in the state at a state-level consultative meet on iodine deficiency disorders in Dimapur today, Food & Civil Supply officials said that even in the past, the state’s requirement of 11932 tones per annum of iodised salt has not been met. The officials also claimed that the salt sent from the main supplier for public distribution is of inferior quality compared to those available in the market. The Civil Supplies officials added that nothing much in the past two years has been done with regard to the supply of iodised salt, clearly indicating a lack of communication between the various agencies responsible for supply and quality control.
Interestingly, the Food Inspector from the Chief Medical Officer’s office substantiated the claim that iodised salt sold in the market, on testing, has shown to be of superior quality than those supplied through the PDS. On the other hand, the department officers claim no report has been given by Food Inspectors from any of the districts for the last 2 to 3 years. Moreover, it has occurred that no comparative study has been done between salt distributed through PDS and those available in the market.
Iodine deficiency, which leads to a wide spectrum of neurological and hypothyroid disorders in human, is a crucial health issue which can be prevented if careful. Nagaland has been successful in bringing down iodine deficiency from 34.3% in 1960 to barely 0.7 % today, according to statistics given by Dr. Meren, the programme officer of National Iodine Deficiency Disorders Control Programme (NIDDCP). Under the programme, the Department of Health and Family Welfare has conducted survey across the state indicating a steep fall in the level of IDD cases. So far as per the data compiled, Mokokchung district recorded the highest number of IDD cases and the lowest number of cases has been reported from Wokha district. According to the report, 85% of the population uses iodised salt. Dr. Meren said that there is greater awareness now and, therefore, IDD has drastically reduced in the last few decades.
The department is currently in the process of conducting more survey in all the districts to assess the magnitude of IDD and also to ascertain the impact of the programme activities. The department also aims to upgrade IDD monitoring and evaluation activities at all levels.
