COMMENTATOR (COMM.): Previously on Life:
GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND: If you undermine the human capital by not investing in health and education - you undermine the real potential for moving ahead onto a positive path.
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA: The real problem in most poor countries is they've got bureaucrats that, you know steal everything before it can be a benefit.
Prof AMARTYA SEN: It's scandalous that curable diseases could batter the lives of so many people.
COMM: Mount Merapi on the island of Java . . . Merapi is Indonesia's most active - and dangerous - volcano. But despite the danger, the slopes below Merapi are intensively farmed. Java's volcanoes have created some of the most fertile agricultural land on earth. With 120 million people, Java is the world's most densely populated island. Yet it's self-sufficient in food - the fertile soil allows farmers two to three harvests a year with little or no need for fertilizer. But in spite of this natural abundance, there's a vital ingredient missing from Java's soil. It's only needed in minute quantities - but for millions of Indonesians it can mean the difference between health and happiness or a lifetime of handicap and misery . . .
Dwi Asnawan is three years old. But he cannot yet walk or talk. He's sick because he's not getting enough iodine in his food. Iodine is a trace element usually present in tiny amounts in soil and water. Because it's missing from his parents land, his food is also missing it. This morning two other children suspected of having the same problem have come to this clinic - which specializes in iodine deficiency disorders.
Dr Untung is director of the clinic.
Dr UNTUNG (translation): Iodine deficiency kills children. The most serious damage happens in the womb and in the first three months of life. Without iodine, children suffer from a range of illnesses we call Iodine Deficiency Disorders - or I.D.D. There maybe 3 million children here with IDD, and we don't have the money to do expensive lab tests, so we have to rely on visual observations like this . . .
COMM: Dwi's mother Mahmuda has had a swelling on her throat since her early teens. It's a strong sign of lack of iodine. Iodine is needed by the thyroid gland - normally invisible - to make hormones needed to control vital bodily functions. When there's not enough it has to work harder and expands, producing this tell-tale swelling, known as goitre. So it's no surprise that her child is also unwell. All three mothers have come from the village of Sengi at the foot of Mt. Merapi. While goitre's the best known sign of iodine deficiency, the most serious damage goes unseen. It takes place in the months before and after birth. Damage done at this stage of a child's development is irreversible. In areas where iodine deficiency is endemic areas a high proportion of babies are born seriously underweight. And there are many stillbirths. Mahmuda's neighbour Sryani is about to go into labour.
SRYANI (translation): Those with goitre are generally weak and in poor health . . . you sometimes see people with swollen limbs . . . but the worse thing is when children are sick.
COMM: With three of her neighbours children sick, Sryani feels her unborn child is at risk. An extreme effect of iodine deficiency is cretinism. Cretins suffer from severe and irreversible mental and physical retardation. They're usually very short and may be partially deaf.
DR UNTUNG WIDODO, Director of IDD Research Centre, Borobudur (translation): How old are you? Eh? How old?
OLD MAN: I'm 66
DR UNTUNG Do you have children?
OLD MAN: Nah.
DR UNTUNG: Are you married?
OLD MAN: No, no I'm not married.
DR UNTUNG Don't you want to?
OLD MAN: No
COMM: Goitre and cretinism are only the most visible sign of the far wider, more devastating impacts of iodine deficiency. IDD can seriously damage the brain, slowing mental responses and impairing intelligence levels. Even moderate IDD can lead to a drop of 10 - 20 points in the IQ performance of sufferers.
DR UNTUNG (translation): Children suffer most - they're slower and less intelligent. Then as adults they will be weaker and unable to work as well . . and they'll be less productive and won't have the same quality of life. In fact it's like losing a huge part of your life, never getting the chances you should have had.
COMM: Where people lack the iodine their bodies need there are untold stories of lost opportunities in life. But for Kahmidi, who suffers from severe cretinism, life changed completely 20 year ago. A distinguished endocrinologist came to Sengi, and took a personal interest in him.
PROFESSOR DJOKOMOELYANTO:) When I saw him he was so lonely under the tree. He doesn't work at all. But he was classified as an endemic cretin. COMM: Giving iodine supplements can't reverse existing brain damage but it can revitalize sufferers.
PROFESSOR DJOKOMOELYANTO: Next year . . . when I came back there he was so different in appearance and he decided to marry somebody. It seems that he married a woman, a taller woman, who was also classified as an endemic cretin.
GINAH & KAMIDI (Translation): Before I got that injection I couldn't use my brain . . . I couldn't understand anything.
He just couldn't use his brain.
And it wasn't only my brain I couldn't use . . . I just couldn't do anything.
He couldn't do anything.
But the injection made me feel stronger. That's when I decided I wanted a wife . . .
It was the iodine treatment that did the trick.
COMM: Women with IDD are particularly vulnerable - and are more likely to have stillbirths, miscarry, or have low birth-weight babies with permanent brain damage or cretinism.
GINAH (translation): When we got married, I was so happy . . . now we were like everyone else . . . But to be honest . . . I was worried that if I had a baby, I wanted it to be normal like other peoples' babies . . .
COMM: Professor Djokomoelyanto also injected Ginah with the iodised oil, to increase the chance that any children she and Kahmidi had would be normal. Soon, Ginah and Kamidhi did conceive, and to their great relief and joy, they had a son AND he was entirely normal
Their son, Rame, is now 18 and well above average intelligence. The doctor who treated his parents decided to sponsor Rame's education. Rame is the first member of his family ever to attend university. He's majoring in chemistry - for a particular reason . . .
RAME (translation): If I get to become a good scientist I'd like to find ways of helping people like my Dad. I hope no more generations are being born in the future having to suffer like my Dad did. When I was a kid I used to dream of discovering some kind of cure to make him normal . . . of course I know now that that's not possible. Since I was a kid I wished my Dad could be as tall as other kids' Dads. . . and think normally and talk normally with other people.
QUESTION: Was Kamidi ever badly treated by other villagers because of his condition?
GINAH (translation): No he was always well treated and the villagers were very understanding. In fact his father loved him better than his other children because of his condition.
Because my husband can't speak properly, we've developed our own special language in the family. So if outsiders can't understand what he's trying to say, we do - even if he uses the wrong words. . .
RAME (Translation): Who did you say is having a baby?
GINAH: It's Sriani up the road.
RAME: Ah . . . How are her tomatoes doing?
KAMIDI: They're good!
RAME: Why don't we grow tomatoes too then?
KAMIDI: We do . . . we're growing them ourselves too!
RAME: What those that came in the plastic bag?
KAMIDI: Ha ha ha!
RAME: You're having me on! You didn't grow them yourself! (laughing)
KAMIDI: We bought them from a neighbour who needed cash. No we didn't grow them.
KAMIDI: I want my sons to get good jobs so they can be "real" people. I'm proud of them!
COMM: Rame's family's story is vivid proof that all that's needed to end the scourge of IDD is a consistent dosage of iodine - provided it's given soon enough and in the right quantities.
It's not just the people who suffer from lack of iodine. Agriculture's also affected too - with farm animals lacking the vitality they'd normally get from a more complete diet . . . with unhealthy livestock producing fewer eggs, less meat and less wool. Farmers lose out as a result.
COMM: This ewe regularly produces stillborn lambs.
DR UNTUNG: Look. . . that sheep's got goitre! It keeps having lambs that are stillborn . . .
COMM: Across the world, vast areas of land don't contain enough iodine - and a billion people remain at risk from IDD. Treating entire populations with regular iodine supplements - in the way that Kamidi and Ginah were - is impractical. A simpler option is to fortify salt with small amounts of iodine. Salt is an ideal carrier because everyone needs it in fairly constant daily doses. In conjunction with many governments UNICEF has long advocated the universal iodisation of salt. In Indonesia, salt producers are legally obliged to add iodine to salt. This salt factory on Java's northern coastline is typical of Indonesia's many salt producers, adding the specified amount of iodine. It's added through a dispensing nozzle before being thoroughly mixed in. But, if, officially, most of the salt in Indonesia is already being iodised, why are so many people still suffering from IDD?
PART 2
DR UNTUNG: Hello Mahmuda!
MAHMUDA: Hello.
DR UNTUNG: Can we go inside?
MAHMUDA: Yes please come in.
DR UNTUNG: He's not still crying is he? I'd like to take a look at the salt you're using.
MAHMUDA: Sorry about the mess in here. Dr UNTUNG SYNC: Let's take a look at this salt then . . . if the salt is good, it will turn deep blue. Just look at this . . . this is not good at all. It has absolutely no iodine in it. It says on the pack that it's iodised - but it's not! You're being cheated!
Dr UNTUNG: This is what's causing you to have goitre and it's what's stopping your son from growing normally so he can't walk or talk.
MAHMUDA: But it said on the pack it was iodised - that's why I bought it in the first place!
Dr UNTUNG: Well they're lying!
MAHMUDA: Ohhhh.
COMM: Dr. Untung now goes on to check the salt in the homes of the other two sick children he saw in the clinic.
Dr UNTUNG: Very weak! No iodine!!
DR UNTUNG: Hello . . . Hello baby Ramina!! I want to come and check your salt. This one too . . . it's useless . . . It has hardly any iodine. Madam - if this is the salt you use then you can't be getting enough iodine. And because of that neither is your baby.
COMM: The tests show that the salt used in each of the three sick children's homes doesn't contain the recommended dosage of iodine. In areas with moderate iodine shortages, goitres most often start to appear in girls at the onset of puberty - when there is an increased need for iodine. Dr. Untung's assistant Fifi, a nutritionist visits a local school to check for signs of more widespread IDD.
FIFI(translation): Put your head back and can you swallow please.
COMM: The children in this class are well below the age of puberty. So the presence of goitres here would point to a serious lack of iodine in the local community's diet. In this class of 38, two girls, Indah and Dinnie, have goitres, and two more have suspected goitres. The next step for Fifi is to go back to Indah's home to investigate the cause of her goitre.
MOTHER: I've got two different brands of salt. They're "GM" and "Fisherman's Boat".
FIFI: Do you keep them sealed up or open?
MOTHER: I usually leave the packet open back there in the kitchen . . .
COMM: A certain amount of iodine is lost from the salt through open air or damp storage and through cooking. But the legally required concentration of iodine should compensate for this. Both salts fail the test.
FIFI: This salt is no good. See, salt with enough iodine in it should turn really deep purple like this. "Don't worry too much about the swelling on your daughter's throat - it's not dangerous and it should return to normal once she starts getting enough iodine. Don't be afraid she's going to be fine.
MOTHER: So she'll be normal again?
COMM: Fifi does the same test in Dinny's home - with exactly the same results.
FIFI: You may have seen cretins around . . . do you know what they are?
MOTHER: You mean those short people?
FIFI : Yes. That comes from lack of iodine.
COMM: Dr. Untung's team repeat the test in another, more remote village. They suspect that up here their might be even more cases of goitre than lower down the volcano's slopes. The children being tested are of the same age group as in the first school. There are 19 children in this class - half the number in the first school. Here Dr. Untung finds one clear case of goitre and two more suspected cases. Both classes have exactly the same proportion of cases. Our limited test points to a general lack of iodine in the diet of these children. Without the iodine they need, many will simply never perform in school as well as they could.
To find the real extent of the problem, Dr. Untung's team visit the village supply stores to test the salt they're selling.
DR UNTUNG: If this turns deep purple then it contains iodine . . . no colour at all!
COMM: The results - depressingly - confirm what they'd found in the children's homes. Hardly any of the salt on sale in the shops contained the statutory amount of iodine. Dr. UNTUNG: The factories are cheating us. It says on the packets that the salt is iodised but it's not!
COMM: Dr Untung's discovery confirms his worst fears - the iodine deficiency he'd found in the schoolchildren is part of a bigger picture - salt manufacturers' negligence in iodising salt. The successful experience of many other countries confirms that iodising salt is by far the most effective way to combat IDD - but it needs to be properly enforced. As a result, most people here aren't getting enough iodine supplements. Dr Untung is outraged.
DR UNTUNG: Of all the salt we tested, only one comes any where close to the legal standard. This is a very serious situation in an area where there is already a serious lack of iodine. We have all these brands of salt claiming to be iodised but when you test them they have none. We need stronger laws - and supervision to back them up. No one has ever carried out checks in this area.
COMM: A recent report by the World Bank shows that the lack of essential micronutrients, including iodine, in food can lead to a drop in Gross Domestic Product of up to 5 per cent.
PROFESSOR DJOKOMOELYANTO: That's more than the sum of money spent on education or activities so you can imagine how huge it for our nation.
COMM: As a result of sub-standard salt being sold as iodised, untold numbers of children will never have the chance to live their lives to the full. Back in the village of Sengi, Sryani has had her baby, a normal healthy boy.
DR UNTUNG: All this adds to the problem of development in our country. IDD is a simple problem which we know how to fix - cheaply and effectively. But for the relative cost of just a few pennies we haven't done it. Instead our country is being held back with a much more serious and costly problem.
KAMIDI: Even though I'm poor short and ugly, and let's face it, my wife isn't exactly pretty . . . it doesn't matter, because we are proud to have two good strong and healthy children . . .
END
GRO HARLEM BRUNDTLAND: If you undermine the human capital by not investing in health and education - you undermine the real potential for moving ahead onto a positive path.
FRANCIS FUKUYAMA: The real problem in most poor countries is they've got bureaucrats that, you know steal everything before it can be a benefit.
Prof AMARTYA SEN: It's scandalous that curable diseases could batter the lives of so many people.
COMM: Mount Merapi on the island of Java . . . Merapi is Indonesia's most active - and dangerous - volcano. But despite the danger, the slopes below Merapi are intensively farmed. Java's volcanoes have created some of the most fertile agricultural land on earth. With 120 million people, Java is the world's most densely populated island. Yet it's self-sufficient in food - the fertile soil allows farmers two to three harvests a year with little or no need for fertilizer. But in spite of this natural abundance, there's a vital ingredient missing from Java's soil. It's only needed in minute quantities - but for millions of Indonesians it can mean the difference between health and happiness or a lifetime of handicap and misery . . .
Dwi Asnawan is three years old. But he cannot yet walk or talk. He's sick because he's not getting enough iodine in his food. Iodine is a trace element usually present in tiny amounts in soil and water. Because it's missing from his parents land, his food is also missing it. This morning two other children suspected of having the same problem have come to this clinic - which specializes in iodine deficiency disorders.
Dr Untung is director of the clinic.
Dr UNTUNG (translation): Iodine deficiency kills children. The most serious damage happens in the womb and in the first three months of life. Without iodine, children suffer from a range of illnesses we call Iodine Deficiency Disorders - or I.D.D. There maybe 3 million children here with IDD, and we don't have the money to do expensive lab tests, so we have to rely on visual observations like this . . .
COMM: Dwi's mother Mahmuda has had a swelling on her throat since her early teens. It's a strong sign of lack of iodine. Iodine is needed by the thyroid gland - normally invisible - to make hormones needed to control vital bodily functions. When there's not enough it has to work harder and expands, producing this tell-tale swelling, known as goitre. So it's no surprise that her child is also unwell. All three mothers have come from the village of Sengi at the foot of Mt. Merapi. While goitre's the best known sign of iodine deficiency, the most serious damage goes unseen. It takes place in the months before and after birth. Damage done at this stage of a child's development is irreversible. In areas where iodine deficiency is endemic areas a high proportion of babies are born seriously underweight. And there are many stillbirths. Mahmuda's neighbour Sryani is about to go into labour.
SRYANI (translation): Those with goitre are generally weak and in poor health . . . you sometimes see people with swollen limbs . . . but the worse thing is when children are sick.
COMM: With three of her neighbours children sick, Sryani feels her unborn child is at risk. An extreme effect of iodine deficiency is cretinism. Cretins suffer from severe and irreversible mental and physical retardation. They're usually very short and may be partially deaf.
DR UNTUNG WIDODO, Director of IDD Research Centre, Borobudur (translation): How old are you? Eh? How old?
OLD MAN: I'm 66
DR UNTUNG Do you have children?
OLD MAN: Nah.
DR UNTUNG: Are you married?
OLD MAN: No, no I'm not married.
DR UNTUNG Don't you want to?
OLD MAN: No
COMM: Goitre and cretinism are only the most visible sign of the far wider, more devastating impacts of iodine deficiency. IDD can seriously damage the brain, slowing mental responses and impairing intelligence levels. Even moderate IDD can lead to a drop of 10 - 20 points in the IQ performance of sufferers.
DR UNTUNG (translation): Children suffer most - they're slower and less intelligent. Then as adults they will be weaker and unable to work as well . . and they'll be less productive and won't have the same quality of life. In fact it's like losing a huge part of your life, never getting the chances you should have had.
COMM: Where people lack the iodine their bodies need there are untold stories of lost opportunities in life. But for Kahmidi, who suffers from severe cretinism, life changed completely 20 year ago. A distinguished endocrinologist came to Sengi, and took a personal interest in him.
PROFESSOR DJOKOMOELYANTO:) When I saw him he was so lonely under the tree. He doesn't work at all. But he was classified as an endemic cretin. COMM: Giving iodine supplements can't reverse existing brain damage but it can revitalize sufferers.
PROFESSOR DJOKOMOELYANTO: Next year . . . when I came back there he was so different in appearance and he decided to marry somebody. It seems that he married a woman, a taller woman, who was also classified as an endemic cretin.
GINAH & KAMIDI (Translation): Before I got that injection I couldn't use my brain . . . I couldn't understand anything.
He just couldn't use his brain.
And it wasn't only my brain I couldn't use . . . I just couldn't do anything.
He couldn't do anything.
But the injection made me feel stronger. That's when I decided I wanted a wife . . .
It was the iodine treatment that did the trick.
COMM: Women with IDD are particularly vulnerable - and are more likely to have stillbirths, miscarry, or have low birth-weight babies with permanent brain damage or cretinism.
GINAH (translation): When we got married, I was so happy . . . now we were like everyone else . . . But to be honest . . . I was worried that if I had a baby, I wanted it to be normal like other peoples' babies . . .
COMM: Professor Djokomoelyanto also injected Ginah with the iodised oil, to increase the chance that any children she and Kahmidi had would be normal. Soon, Ginah and Kamidhi did conceive, and to their great relief and joy, they had a son AND he was entirely normal
Their son, Rame, is now 18 and well above average intelligence. The doctor who treated his parents decided to sponsor Rame's education. Rame is the first member of his family ever to attend university. He's majoring in chemistry - for a particular reason . . .
RAME (translation): If I get to become a good scientist I'd like to find ways of helping people like my Dad. I hope no more generations are being born in the future having to suffer like my Dad did. When I was a kid I used to dream of discovering some kind of cure to make him normal . . . of course I know now that that's not possible. Since I was a kid I wished my Dad could be as tall as other kids' Dads. . . and think normally and talk normally with other people.
QUESTION: Was Kamidi ever badly treated by other villagers because of his condition?
GINAH (translation): No he was always well treated and the villagers were very understanding. In fact his father loved him better than his other children because of his condition.
Because my husband can't speak properly, we've developed our own special language in the family. So if outsiders can't understand what he's trying to say, we do - even if he uses the wrong words. . .
RAME (Translation): Who did you say is having a baby?
GINAH: It's Sriani up the road.
RAME: Ah . . . How are her tomatoes doing?
KAMIDI: They're good!
RAME: Why don't we grow tomatoes too then?
KAMIDI: We do . . . we're growing them ourselves too!
RAME: What those that came in the plastic bag?
KAMIDI: Ha ha ha!
RAME: You're having me on! You didn't grow them yourself! (laughing)
KAMIDI: We bought them from a neighbour who needed cash. No we didn't grow them.
KAMIDI: I want my sons to get good jobs so they can be "real" people. I'm proud of them!
COMM: Rame's family's story is vivid proof that all that's needed to end the scourge of IDD is a consistent dosage of iodine - provided it's given soon enough and in the right quantities.
It's not just the people who suffer from lack of iodine. Agriculture's also affected too - with farm animals lacking the vitality they'd normally get from a more complete diet . . . with unhealthy livestock producing fewer eggs, less meat and less wool. Farmers lose out as a result.
COMM: This ewe regularly produces stillborn lambs.
DR UNTUNG: Look. . . that sheep's got goitre! It keeps having lambs that are stillborn . . .
COMM: Across the world, vast areas of land don't contain enough iodine - and a billion people remain at risk from IDD. Treating entire populations with regular iodine supplements - in the way that Kamidi and Ginah were - is impractical. A simpler option is to fortify salt with small amounts of iodine. Salt is an ideal carrier because everyone needs it in fairly constant daily doses. In conjunction with many governments UNICEF has long advocated the universal iodisation of salt. In Indonesia, salt producers are legally obliged to add iodine to salt. This salt factory on Java's northern coastline is typical of Indonesia's many salt producers, adding the specified amount of iodine. It's added through a dispensing nozzle before being thoroughly mixed in. But, if, officially, most of the salt in Indonesia is already being iodised, why are so many people still suffering from IDD?
PART 2
DR UNTUNG: Hello Mahmuda!
MAHMUDA: Hello.
DR UNTUNG: Can we go inside?
MAHMUDA: Yes please come in.
DR UNTUNG: He's not still crying is he? I'd like to take a look at the salt you're using.
MAHMUDA: Sorry about the mess in here. Dr UNTUNG SYNC: Let's take a look at this salt then . . . if the salt is good, it will turn deep blue. Just look at this . . . this is not good at all. It has absolutely no iodine in it. It says on the pack that it's iodised - but it's not! You're being cheated!
Dr UNTUNG: This is what's causing you to have goitre and it's what's stopping your son from growing normally so he can't walk or talk.
MAHMUDA: But it said on the pack it was iodised - that's why I bought it in the first place!
Dr UNTUNG: Well they're lying!
MAHMUDA: Ohhhh.
COMM: Dr. Untung now goes on to check the salt in the homes of the other two sick children he saw in the clinic.
Dr UNTUNG: Very weak! No iodine!!
DR UNTUNG: Hello . . . Hello baby Ramina!! I want to come and check your salt. This one too . . . it's useless . . . It has hardly any iodine. Madam - if this is the salt you use then you can't be getting enough iodine. And because of that neither is your baby.
COMM: The tests show that the salt used in each of the three sick children's homes doesn't contain the recommended dosage of iodine. In areas with moderate iodine shortages, goitres most often start to appear in girls at the onset of puberty - when there is an increased need for iodine. Dr. Untung's assistant Fifi, a nutritionist visits a local school to check for signs of more widespread IDD.
FIFI(translation): Put your head back and can you swallow please.
COMM: The children in this class are well below the age of puberty. So the presence of goitres here would point to a serious lack of iodine in the local community's diet. In this class of 38, two girls, Indah and Dinnie, have goitres, and two more have suspected goitres. The next step for Fifi is to go back to Indah's home to investigate the cause of her goitre.
MOTHER: I've got two different brands of salt. They're "GM" and "Fisherman's Boat".
FIFI: Do you keep them sealed up or open?
MOTHER: I usually leave the packet open back there in the kitchen . . .
COMM: A certain amount of iodine is lost from the salt through open air or damp storage and through cooking. But the legally required concentration of iodine should compensate for this. Both salts fail the test.
FIFI: This salt is no good. See, salt with enough iodine in it should turn really deep purple like this. "Don't worry too much about the swelling on your daughter's throat - it's not dangerous and it should return to normal once she starts getting enough iodine. Don't be afraid she's going to be fine.
MOTHER: So she'll be normal again?
COMM: Fifi does the same test in Dinny's home - with exactly the same results.
FIFI: You may have seen cretins around . . . do you know what they are?
MOTHER: You mean those short people?
FIFI : Yes. That comes from lack of iodine.
COMM: Dr. Untung's team repeat the test in another, more remote village. They suspect that up here their might be even more cases of goitre than lower down the volcano's slopes. The children being tested are of the same age group as in the first school. There are 19 children in this class - half the number in the first school. Here Dr. Untung finds one clear case of goitre and two more suspected cases. Both classes have exactly the same proportion of cases. Our limited test points to a general lack of iodine in the diet of these children. Without the iodine they need, many will simply never perform in school as well as they could.
To find the real extent of the problem, Dr. Untung's team visit the village supply stores to test the salt they're selling.
DR UNTUNG: If this turns deep purple then it contains iodine . . . no colour at all!
COMM: The results - depressingly - confirm what they'd found in the children's homes. Hardly any of the salt on sale in the shops contained the statutory amount of iodine. Dr. UNTUNG: The factories are cheating us. It says on the packets that the salt is iodised but it's not!
COMM: Dr Untung's discovery confirms his worst fears - the iodine deficiency he'd found in the schoolchildren is part of a bigger picture - salt manufacturers' negligence in iodising salt. The successful experience of many other countries confirms that iodising salt is by far the most effective way to combat IDD - but it needs to be properly enforced. As a result, most people here aren't getting enough iodine supplements. Dr Untung is outraged.
DR UNTUNG: Of all the salt we tested, only one comes any where close to the legal standard. This is a very serious situation in an area where there is already a serious lack of iodine. We have all these brands of salt claiming to be iodised but when you test them they have none. We need stronger laws - and supervision to back them up. No one has ever carried out checks in this area.
COMM: A recent report by the World Bank shows that the lack of essential micronutrients, including iodine, in food can lead to a drop in Gross Domestic Product of up to 5 per cent.
PROFESSOR DJOKOMOELYANTO: That's more than the sum of money spent on education or activities so you can imagine how huge it for our nation.
COMM: As a result of sub-standard salt being sold as iodised, untold numbers of children will never have the chance to live their lives to the full. Back in the village of Sengi, Sryani has had her baby, a normal healthy boy.
DR UNTUNG: All this adds to the problem of development in our country. IDD is a simple problem which we know how to fix - cheaply and effectively. But for the relative cost of just a few pennies we haven't done it. Instead our country is being held back with a much more serious and costly problem.
KAMIDI: Even though I'm poor short and ugly, and let's face it, my wife isn't exactly pretty . . . it doesn't matter, because we are proud to have two good strong and healthy children . . .
END