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| India-Pakistan | ||
| Iodine deficiency affecting children in northwest Pakistan | ||
| 2007-08-19 | ||
| ABBOTABAD, 6 August 2007 (IRIN) - 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. Sumaira Khatoon, 35, is concerned by her youngest son's performance at school. The boy, Farhan, 10, has failed his examinations twice and teachers say he is "incapable of learning". Sumair and her husband Farooq Ahmed, 40, who live in the small town of Thandiani, some 30km from Abbotabad, in Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP), had no idea that the problem could be linked to iodine deficiency. "Both our other children, a daughter and a son, do well at school. We are very worried about Farhan," said Farooq. The child shows no obvious signs of iodine deficiency. He seems active and the tell-tale swelling of the thyroid gland, known as goiter, which occurs when there is a serious iodine deficiency, is not visible. "It is commonly believed iodine deficiency shows itself only as goiter, but actually it can lead to slow mental development, retardation, lethargy and reproductive problems, including miscarriages or still births among women," said Dr Faiza Zafar, a physician based in Abbotabad. She diagnoses iodine deficiency quite frequently among patients from all over the NWFP. 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. On paper at least, the solution is simple. Iodised table salt was introduced in Pakistan in 1994 and currently the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), which began importing potassium iodate into Pakistan around the same time, supplies provincial health departments. The rate, at US$2.50 per kilogram is low, and the cost of adding it to salt ground at local mills is minimal. 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 Dr Zafar.
This belief, which exists not only in the NWFP but also in many parts of Pakistan’s populous Punjab Province, is similar to misconceptions surrounding the oral polio vaccine, and also fortified flour, the marketing of which has begun in some parts of the country. However, Amjad Malik, a medical student who is working in Abbotabad to combat iodine deficiency, said: "Such problems have to be tackled and not allowed to stand in the way of people's health.” This may be easier said than done though - especially in conservative areas of the NWFP where campaigns conducted by the government or non-governmental organisations (NGOs), hold little weight and are often regarded with distrust. Combating deeply rooted beliefs is hard, with many people seemingly unconvinced by factual evidence. "Allah Almighty has given us many natural wonders, including salt. Why should we add man-made medication to it? If a child is ill or a woman suffers miscarriages, that is God's will," said cleric Abdul Hakim, based at a mosque close to Thandiani. However, gradually, the message regarding iodine has begun to reach some families. "If this will help my son, I am willing to try it," said Sumaira Khatoon, cautiously sniffing a handful of iodised salt brought from a corner-shop. According to the results of UNICEF-supported research conducted by the Peshawar-based Research Centre of the Khyber Medical College, in the Swat area of the NWFP, the findings of which were published in 2003, 52 percent of boys and 45 percent of girls aged 8-10, from a sample of 960 students, were found to suffer from goiter. While this marked a slight improvement over figures reported in past years, the incidence of the problem remained high. According to the Network for the Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency, a network of major international organisations working globally against iodine deficiency, only 17 percent of Pakistan’s population uses iodised salt. This compares to over 70 percent in neighbouring India, 93 percent in Nepal and 78 percent in Bangladesh. International agency Micro-nutrients Initiative (MI) has now taken over responsibility for promoting iodised salt in the country and is working with the Health Ministry. Attempts are being made to persuade rock-salt crushing factories to add the nutrient to its products. Wider marketing of iodised salt and indeed a battle against widespread malnutrition, which causes stunting among 38 percent of Pakistani children, according to international findings, may help solve some of the issues millions of people face.
In addition, heightened pro-militant sentiments currently prevailing in many areas of Pakistan, particularly in NWFP, are making it even harder than before for the government or NGOs to get their message across and correct the misconceptions which have consistently plagued efforts to improve health in many spheres. | ||
| Posted by:john frum |
| #15 I've done the same to many black older generation people at my work (Federal Gov't Agency). When I can't get through to them about Mike Vick, I usually enlighten them about world events (usually involving attacks by Islam) and they are utterly amazed at how much we *don't* hear by the MSM. You've got it, BA. I own a white wolf-hybrid (named, Zen). So often black kids (and even white kids as well) are utterly terrified of my slightly aggressive but totally friendly animal. After shopping at my local Supermercado, I exited the store, untied Zen, and headed towards my car. At every opportunity, I make sure kids always have a chance to positively interact with Zen. He loves children and sucks up their attention like the strokes-monster he is. Outside of the store it was truly discouraging to see a family of kids almost run in terror from Zen, except for the eldest child. He hung back and gave Zen all sorts of strokes while I talked to the child's father about pets and animals. It was so refreshing to hear a responsible black man, on his own, bring up how evil Vick's dog fighting crap was and then also encourage his other terrified children to come and pet Zen. Sadly, few of them would, but his eldest son hung out and gave Zen all sorts of strokes to help prove the rest of them wrong. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-19 20:32 |
| #14 Zen, continue on enlightening her, believe me, it eventually gets through (or else she's as dumb as a brick and will never "get it."). I've done the same to many black older generation people at my work (Federal Gov't Agency). When I can't get through to them about Mike Vick, I usually enlighten them about world events (usually involving attacks by Islam) and they are utterly amazed at how much we *don't* hear by the MSM. Most of them keep an open mind about it and are beginning to see the cancer that is Islam. This belief, which exists not only in the NWFP but also in many parts of PakistanÂ’s populous Punjab Province, is similar to misconceptions surrounding the oral polio vaccine, and also fortified flour, the marketing of which has begun in some parts of the country. This one quote gives me hope that we'll win this WAR one way or another. Either we take them out wholesale (if needed) by military/diplo actions, or they will *eventually* kill themselves by being the world's first wholesale religious group worthy of the Darwin Award of the Century. As a Christian, I still have hope that they can be converted and/or saved on a physical level. As a human, though, anyone who just chalks up kids' deaths and sufferings as Allan's will is beyond my sympathy. As if 9/11 weren't bad enough (attacking adult civilians), I learned *all* I needed to know about Islam in that school "seige" in Beslan. That attack alone turned the tide for me, and I say "Full Steam Ahead" in taking out Islamic gov'ts and especially "holy men" like these. |
| Posted by: BA 2007-08-19 20:13 |
| #13 "...if a child is ill or a woman suffers ..., that is G*d's will." Simply pathetic! These cretins are a parody of human beings. |
| Posted by: Neville Phereng4211 2007-08-19 18:10 |
| #12 When it rains, it pours. |
| Posted by: Nimble Spemble 2007-08-19 16:50 |
| #11 LOL Legion! |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-08-19 16:36 |
| #10 More muslim transference, telegraphing what muslims would do when and if they ever get on top. Word, ed. I had dinner with woman lst night who simply refused to accept that one culture could be superior to another. She kept insisting that other cultures also thought that they were the best just as I was asserting that America's was the best. I tried to point out how ours promotes actual freedom while so many others, especially Islamic ones, do the exact opposite. Even confronted with how the vast majority of this world's population wants to immigrate to America, she could not bring herself to admit that such a thing was a frank admission of American culture's superiority. I politiely pointed out how us having dinner together while she was unescorted by a male relative would get us lashes for adultery in Saudi Arabia, not to mention how her revealing outfit would do the same as well. I even noted how women especially would die in droves under a global caliphate as they would only be able to see extremely scarce female doctors. She countered with the usual tired old memes of how America should not go around trying to export democracy and "sticking our nose where it doesn't belong." She insisted that people in Islamic countries need to rise up for themselves. I tried to point out how those people often face heavily armed militaries and an elite clerical aristocracy who has not the least interest in their freedom and, in fact, sees democracy with its manmade laws as a direct affront to shari'a law. I'm hoping that a tiny bit of this leaked through. She's a seasoned traveller and runs her own business, so there's a slight hope. I light of how she is a black woman, I really need to inform her of how Islam treats black Muslims, but that will have to wait for another time. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-19 16:33 |
| #9 More muslim transference, telegraphing what muslims would do when and if they ever get on top. |
| Posted by: ed 2007-08-19 16:00 |
| #8 Ah, some of that ole, special zenster-love. Niiice and spot-on. |
| Posted by: Brett 2007-08-19 15:31 |
| #7 "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 Dr Zafar. We only wish that the polio vaccine and iodized salt were secret involuntary birth control menthods. Instead, the usual Islamic Idiocy™ transcends our own limited expectations and outdoes even itself for utter opacity. Between Pashtoons leaving their wimmen folk to freeze in the winter highlands while the Brave Lions of Islam™ go downslope to get earthquake aid, the polio vaccine scare and now this ... IODIZED SALT ... fer cripes sakes ... I no longer have the least sympathy for these maroons. Pakistan is essentially an advanced form of what Palestinians would be like with their own nation after a few decades. Just like the Palestinians, I no longer feel the least twinge of sypmathy for their combined sufferings. My only regret is that this sort of terminal stupidity simply cannot kill off these willfully ignorant cretins fast enough. Muslims deserve Islam and all its attendant woes. When they finally learn to shrug off the chains of intolerance and unenlightenment, only then will some sort of relief begin. Until then, the West's only obligation is to sit back and quietly watch them sink into the mire of their own Islamic cesspits and squash whomever tries to come our way. |
| Posted by: Zenster 2007-08-19 15:17 |
| #6 Hmm. Pakistan. North. West-Oh. THEM. |
| Posted by: Ptah 2007-08-19 14:18 |
| #5 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 On to us. I knew this would happen, it was so damn obvious, I said in the Water, in the Water, but noooooo we gotta try the salt angle. Still good reports from the Polio Vaccine front. |
| Posted by: Thomas Woof 2007-08-19 12:47 |
| #4 Until such time as they recognize its value, at which point it was Islamic science that knew it all along. |
| Posted by: lotp 2007-08-19 12:33 |
| #3 The idea that iodine can prevent iodine deficiency is a plot by Crusaders and Jews to impurify the precious bodily essences of Muslims. No doubt, the element itself was discovered by Jews. Joos, Jooos, Joooos, I tell you! |
| Posted by: SteveS 2007-08-19 12:23 |
| #2 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 god forbid...breeding like friggin rats, then complaining there isn't enough room/free food/jobs..... |
| Posted by: Frank G 2007-08-19 12:15 |
| #1 Headline should have read: "Unconvinced by facts, unwilling to change age-old beliefs" That's the major problem in Pakistan. |
| Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 2007-08-19 11:25 |