Poverty leads people to take non-iodised salt in Gaibandha

Thirty-year-old housewife Asiya Begum from Katuli village of Gaibandha has been living with her husband, two children and parents-in-law. Her husband is a day labourer, who earns between Tk 200 to Tk 250 every working day.

For several years, Asiya has been living with goitre on her throat. Goitre is a swelling of the thyroid gland that causes a lump, commonly caused by iodine deficiency.

Asiya said her family can only afford packed non-iodised salt in their regular diet.

“We cannot eat properly due to lack of money. How will we buy iodised packet salt,” Asiya told The Business Post.

“Until very recently, we did not know the importance of iodised salt either. Now we know it, but we have nothing to do. Our whole family is run by the earnings of my husband. He is the sole earning member in our family,” she added.

Like Asiya’s household, many households in Gaibandha have been suffering from iodine deficiency.

According to the nutrition profile in Bangladesh National Nutrition Council, 42 per cent of households consume non-iodised salt in Gaibandha.

However, the civil surgeon’s office of Gaibandha has no data on the people suffering from goitre and other diseases caused by iodine deficiency.

“Mainly, people of remote areas consume non-iodised salt. Last year, I held three meetings with nutrition committees in different upazilas. If we can make these committees more active, then more results could be obtained as these committees look after these issues more closely,” Gaibandha Civil Surgeon Dr AM Akhtaruzzaman told The Business Post.

At Modonerpara village in Gaibandha Sadar, just three kilometres away from the civil surgeon office, most residents have been consuming non-iodised salt. Moreover, many of these households take unpacked salt and do not know about the impact of iodine deficiency.

Khadiza Tun Kubra, 24, of Modonerpara has a family of five members. Her husband is also a day labourer, who earns between TK 200 to Tk 250 per day.

“If he does not work, we don’t have any earning. I do not know about iodine. All we know is that the price of packed salt is high,” she said.

Khadiza mentioned that the economic condition of her family dictates salt intake like many other things.

“Sometimes, my husband remains unemployed when agricultural work is not available. He was unemployed for most of the days during the lockdown. It does not matter to us whether iodine is good for health or not,” she said.

Consequence of iodine-deficiency

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), iodine-deficiency disorders, which can start before birth, can jeopardise children’s mental health and often their very survival.

Worldwide, iodine deficiency is the most common cause of thyroid enlargement and goitre. Iodine is a trace element found naturally in foods. It is also added to various foods and can be found in a supplement form.

During the neonatal period, childhood and adolescence, iodine-deficiency disorders can lead to hypothyroidism and hyperthyroidism, said WHO.

Serious iodine deficiency during pregnancy can result in stillbirth, spontaneous abortion and congenital abnormalities such as cretinism - a grave, irreversible form of mental hindrance that affects people living in iodine-deficient areas of Africa and Asia, global health experts said.

Does Tk 22 as a manly extra expense matter?

Per kilogram unpacked salt is sold for Tk 10 while per kilogram packet Iodised salt is sold for Tk 32 in Gaibandha. A five-member family needs barely one kilogram of salt in a month.

Anwar Hossain, a grocer from Haripur char area of Sundarganj upazila, says poverty mostly drives people to spend less when it comes to salt intake.

“People buy unpacked salt due to poverty. Many households lose their crops from flooding and river erosion. Living a life here is a challenge. There is no time to think about other issues. I myself also take unpacked salt,” he said.

According to the Household Income and Expenditure Survey 2016, a total of 47 per cent of people of Gaibandha is living under the poverty line.

The Department of Agriculture Extension of Gaibandha said crops worth Tk 95.88 crore were damaged by a flood in 2020, which affected over one lakh farmers badly.

M Abdus Salam, chief executive of Gana Unnayan Kendra, a non-profit organization, said even a small amount of money matters big to the people living under extreme poverty in the district.

“Really some people are very poor. The one-third landmass of this district is char area. Most of the people in the char area live under the poverty line. A little amount of money really is a big matter for them,” he said.

“Lack of awareness is another prime cause of non-iodised salt intake,” he pointed out. “Still many people, especially in char areas, do not know the consequences of taking non-iodised salt,” said the social worker.