What Is USI And What Is It Doing To Eliminate Iodine Deficiency Disorders In Pakistan?
USI is the abbreviation of Universal Salt Iodization, which is a program that is convenient, economical (cost-effective) and also sustainable in nature in the process of eliminating the menace of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, more precisely known as IDD. It has been a successful mechanism that beheld its commencement in 1989-90 in Pakistan with salt being the most widely used food item that contains a considerable iodine content. Nevertheless its formal and proper implementation was not until the year 1994 when the National IDD (Iodine Deficiency Disorder) Control Project was launched. It took almost 8 years for the Planning Division of the Pakistan government to implement the project attributing to the absence of involvement on behalf of the Ministry of Health. However a shift in policy changed the state of affairs in the country with the Nutrition Wing of the Ministry of Health now being in charge of the Iodine Deficiency Disorder control.
