A 2013 survey conducted in Afghanistan has proven that the national food fortification programme, funded by the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation and other partners, and executed by the Swiss Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN), was successful in reducing the incidence of malnutrition among preschool-age children and women of reproductive age. The initiative was particularly effective in preventing iodine deficiency disorders and brain damage through iodisation of edible salt.
Afghanistan’s Minister of Health, Soraya Dalil, said her country was very grateful to the UAE and its highly respected leadership for the great success achieved through the programme. Dalil’s announcement hailed the role of the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation in supporting nutrition and food fortification in the country and its contribution to the larger ‘Health for All’ aim as stated in Afghanistan’s National Health and Nutrition Policy and Strategy 2012 – 2013.
It is expected that 18 million Afghans will benefit by the end of 2015 from the services provided by the projects including the fortification of wheat flour with iron, folic acid and vitamin B12, and the local production of multi nutrient powder (MNP) that will improve the nutritional status of children between the age of 6 to 24 months.
The minister reiterated the success of the programme, which is a top priority to Afghanistan, particularly with regards to salt iodization, in not only increasing household access to iodised salt to 73.6 percent but also in improving quality as 44.6 percent of all salt samples analyzed were found adequately iodised in 2013, compared to only 28.5 percent in 2004.
The national nutrition survey covered about 22,000 households across all 34 provinces of the country, and was aimed at reviewing the current nutritional situation, establishing the trends and looking for associated factors that influence the nutritional status of the population in Afghanistan.
The survey collected information about household food security, child feeding and care practices, weight and height to assess malnutrition and laboratory analysis of biologic samples to determine vitamin and mineral deficiencies in addition to other health and environmental information such as infection, diseases, access to health care services, drinking water, hygiene and sanitation.
The minister indicated that a revolving fund has been established to help procure potassium iodate.
Iodine is a natural element available in soil and water however, over the years, iodine has been leached out by soil erosion due to floods, overgrazing by livestock and loss of vegetation. Foods grown locally and animals grazing in those areas lack iodine. As a result, the local diet contains less iodine and the population is exposed to iodine deficiency.
During the last few decades UNICEF, non-governmental organizations and the international community have adopted salt iodisation as the most effective, practical and affordable strategy to control iodine deficiency disorders. These stakeholders came together and assigned the universal salt iodisation (USI) target of 80 to 90 percent of household access to adequate iodised salt as a guarantee to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders and its severe effects on brain development and the socio-economic growth of a country. Afghanistan is among the countries that have endorsed the USI goal as a national priority.
newsdesk@thenational.ae
