The authorities of Ludhiana district in Punjab are initiating a survey to measure iodine levels in 2,700 school children aged between 6 and 12 years from over 30 district areas. A school will be identified to represent each area: 74 children from that school and 90 children from the general population will be surveyed. Urine samples of nine children from each area (a total of 270 urine samples) will be collected. Teams will also collect household salt samples from 18 children (a total of 554 samples). District epidemiologist Dr Anil Verma said, “This special survey is a part of a National Iodine Deficiency Disorder Control Programme, being conducted for the first time.”