RI's salt iodization program faces many problems
RI's salt iodization program faces many problems
Text and photos by Prapti Widinugraeni
SUMENEP, Madura (JP): "Iodized salt will be available for
everyone in Indonesia by the end of the year".
Although this ambitious target has, to some extent, been
repeatedly declared by Minister of Health Sujudi, his
announcement earlier this month was particularly interesting
because he made it during a visit to Sumenep, one of the
country's "salt reserves".
The "salt iodizing program" was launched by the government
more than 10 years ago to reduce the number of people suffering
from iodine deficiency disorders, which includes an enlargement
of thyroid glands, more commonly known as goiter, and cretinism,
which is characterized by mental retardation, incapability of
normal speech, movement and hearing and stunted growth.
According to official statistics from the ministry of health,
approximately 30 million Indonesians have a high risk of
suffering from one of the disorders.
From this number, approximately 10 million are already known
to suffer from endemic cases of goiter, approximately 750,000
from cretinism and another 3.5 million from other cases of
disorders.
The normal amount of iodine required by an average person is
150 micrograms per day, 90 percent of which is usually derived
from food and water.
However, in many regions, especially in mountainous areas or
in lowlands by rivers, the iodine content in water, soil, plants
and animals is very small and cannot be relied on to provide the
body with the required amount of iodine.
"Iodizing" came as an answer to fill this deficiency.
Iodizing is done either by injecting iodized oil into the body,
taking iodine capsules or by fortifying everyday salt with
iodine.
Salt fortification was later considered the most efficient
means of iodizing since salt is an essential ingredient in foods
and is consumed on a daily basis.
Many problems face salt iodizing and its consumption.
Sujudi said that presently only 30 percent of the salt
consumed by the public is iodized.
The process calls for relatively expensive facilities and once
the salt is produced, it is costlier than the regular, non-
iodized salt.
This type of salt, he said, costs at least Rp 300 (13 U.S.
cents) which, for many of the people living in rural areas, is
more expensive and less preferable than the non-iodized type,
which is about Rp 100.
State-owned PT Garam, with a history going way back to the
colonial days, has been appointed by the government to manage the
salt industry to the point of distributing and marketing the
product.
The company also supervises the traditional salt
manufacturers, producing iodized salt which meets the Indonesian
National Standard and the Indonesian Industrial Standard
and--perhaps most important of all--controlling the national salt
supply and stabilizing prices through market operations.
From the 5,500 hectares of salt fields it owns in various
areas of Madura plus 17,000 hectares owned by local farmers, PT
Garam, according to President Muchji Rusnosuprapto, is capable of
producing 300,000 tons of salt per year.
"This is about 30 percent of the total amount of salt needed
by Indonesians," he said.
Oversupply
Like many agricultural products which greatly rely on natural
conditions, salt productions has fluctuated. There has more often
been an oversupply rather than an over-demand for it.
Last year, for instance, salt prices dropped to only Rp 4
(less than one U.S. cent) per kilogram due to abundant yields and
good climate.
To prop up prices, PT Garam came in to buy the stock and
prices recovered. Presently, Muchji said, the company buys salt
from the farmers at Rp 19,000 ($9.5) to Rp 24,000 ($12) per ton,
depending on the quality.
"The salt we buy from farmers must be iodized to meet the
Indonesian Industrial Standards and Indonesian National Standards
before it can be sold at the market. This is where our salt
processing plant comes in," he said.
The plant in Kalianget, Sumenep, which produces industrial
salt and iodized consumer salt, starts by pumping sea water into
its salt fields, evaporating the water and crystallizing it by
means of a fractional crystallization system.
Conveyor belts bring the dried salt into PT Garam's salt
purification plant where several dozen of employees clean it and
keep watch as the conveyor brings the salt up to a huge iodizing
machine. The salt is also broken down to finer crystals for
consumer purposes in this plant.
Employees in a separate plant pack the iodized salt into 100-
kilogram sacks which are then sealed and ready to be shipped to
other parts of the country.
The salt also goes to processing and packaging companies
which, for example, manufacture the salt into fine table salt.
"We still need many more plants like this. The government
plans to provide Rp 83 billion ($41.5 million) for a new plant,
which will be very useful because the more iodizing is done, the
more salt we need," Muchji said.
Iodizing, he said, can help reduce the abundant supply of salt
because the purification process requires the salt to be cleansed
of non-iodine minerals before it can be iodized. The cleansing
process can reduce the salt to one-third of its original volume.
Hopefully, Muchji said, iodizing--despite its costliness--will
guarantee not only people consuming more iodine but also that
there is no oversupply of salt in the market.