FDB courts media support on iodated salt

THE Food and Drugs Board (FDB) has held a day's sensitisation workshop on salt iodation for media practitioners in the region.

The aim of the workshop was to arm media practitioners with vital information in order to propagate the need to use iodated salt.

Among the topics treated at the workshop was Iodine deficiencies disorders, the importance of iodated salt in the human diet, and the implementation of the Food and Drugs Amendment Act 523 of 1996.

Speaking on the topic, 'The role of the media in the success of the Universal Salt Iodation,' the Zonal Officer of the FDB, Mr. Solomon Agampim, who underscored the importance of iodine salt, deplored the negative reportage about iodine in some newspapers and commentaries.

For this reason, Mr. Agampim appealed to media practitioners not to give platforms to others who speak against the importance of iodated salt. He said the importance of iodated salt could not be over-estimated as the Board was working hard to remove non-iodated salt from the markets.

Mr. Agampim, who expressed worry over the continued availability of non iodated salt on the market, expressed the hope that very soon the FDB would rid the markets of non-iodated salt, adding, 'It is our hope to terminate the canker now, but for now, we are minimising it.'