The Manila Times

The right to iodized salt

ORLANDO MERCADO

MALNUTRITION and hunger continue to be serious public health problems in our country. Thirty percent of children today are stunted or will not reach optimal height or brain development from deficiency of proteins and calories.

Compared to neighboring countries in Asia, our children are shorter. Food shortages during the pandemic may have made stunting worse.

But proper growth and development require more than just food to assuage hunger. Human beings need “micronutrients,” or essential vitamins and minerals required in small amounts by the body for proper growth and development.

One of those micronutrients is iodine.

The World Health Organization reports that iodine deficiency is the main cause of brain damage in childhood.

Iodine deficiency can impair a person’s cognitive and motor development. Multiple studies have linked iodine deficiency to poor school performance, productivity and the ability to find and keep a job.

Those most vulnerable are pregnant and lactating women, young children, the elderly and individuals who live inland and away from the sea — where seafood can be a rich source of iodine.

Since the 1950s, when goiter and thyroid disease as well as mental retardation from iodine deficiency were prevalent worldwide, scientists and public health experts debated on the best way to address the lack of iodine in the diet. Clinical measures like pills and medications seemed too challenging to implement.

Because of the magnitude of the problem of iodine deficiency in the world, food fortification, or the addition of micronutrients to commonly consumed food products, became an effective strategy. This approach also added vitamin A, calcium, iron and other micronutrients to food products.

Along with the Philippines, other countries like Argentina, Canada, China, India, Iran, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Romania, South Africa and the United States have mandated different ways to add iodine to salt as a public health measure. Some, like the Philippines, opted for Universal Salt Iodization, arguing that it would be easier to monitor implementation if all salt for human and animal consumption were iodized. Meanwhile, other countries with stricter food and drug regulatory regimes can ensure that all salt used in food is iodized without universal fortification.

Since the 1990s when former Health secretary Juan “Johnny” Flavier actively campaigned for universal salt iodization, the rate of iodine deficiency in the Philippines has declined, which is considered a major breakthrough in public health. Furthermore, the ASIN Law, which mandated the addition of iodine to all salt for animal and human consumption since 1995, resulted in the Philippines’ current classification as an adequate iodine nutrition area.

However, contexts have changed over the past three decades, and legislators have recently become outraged by salt importation when our country is capable of salt production. (Food importation of many products we can produce is not limited to salt, but that is a subject that can be discussed separately.)

The recently passed House Bill 8278, or the proposed “Philippine Salt Industry Development Act,” aims to revitalize the local salt industry.

House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez said that President and Agriculture Secretary Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. recognized that “we need to correct the sad irony that the country imports nearly 550,000 metric tons or 93 percent of its requirement for salt” despite being an archipelagic nation capable of salt production.

By all means, we should produce our own salt!

But why are we making salt iodization optional? These two issues need to be decoupled.

According to the bill, among Philippine Salt Industry Development Council’s functions is to establish parameters and guidelines when domestically produced salt may be subjected to mandatory salt iodization under the provisions of Republic Act 8172. Such parameters shall include the level of iodine deficiency among Filipinos and the degree of recovery of the domestic salt industry.

I cringe at the thought that we would wait for more children to suffer from mental retardation before we shift back to universal salt iodization. This is criminal. It is almost like saying we will only enforce traffic rules if more people die from car crashes. After all, the whole point of universal salt iodization is prevention.

The Constitution says that “the State shall protect and promote the right to health of the people and instill health consciousness among them.” This provision tells us that the government recognizes the people’s right to health.

Another provision of the Constitution states that, “The State shall adopt an integrated and comprehensive approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods, health and other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled, women and children.”

Johnny Flavier’s efforts to make iodized salt the right of every Filipino embody these principles and should not be retracted. The success of universal salt iodization is proven. If we reverse this policy, millions of children will eventually suffer from mental retardation and affect their quality of life.

We should not let future generations of Filipinos succumb to a tragic fate in the guise of supporting economic expansion. There has got to be a better way forward.

Whatever the problems of the local salt industry, the argument that the policy on universal salt iodization “killed” the local salt industry is weak and a mere exaggeration. In fact, I would look at land conversion and the destruction of coastal resources as the root causes of the destruction of salt beds in the country, and that the government should push and penalize parties that have destroyed our coasts. We should also consider taxing land developers that impinge on salt beds and use the money to build the capacity of salt farmers in iodizing salt.

Ultimately, national land use policy — the elusive imperative that will solve many of our dilemmas — is sorely needed, even for the salt industry that deserves our full support.

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2023-06-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

2023-06-06T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://digitaledition.manilatimes.net/article/281517935512685

The Manila Times