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.