As Kashmir moves from rock salt of Pakistan to iodized salt, there is a remarkable reduction in iodine deficiency among schoolchildren of the Valley. A recent study by the endocrinology department of the Sheri Kashmir Institute of Medical Sciences reveals that iodine deficiency has dropped to 3.8 per cent from 45 per cent in 1995. The study: "Goitre and Urinary Iodine Excretion Survey in School children of Kashmir Valley" has been published by the journal Clinical Endocrinology.

Professor Abdul Hamid Zargar, former director of SKIMS and a well-known endocrinologist of the state, says before the 1995 study there was no quantification of iodine deficiency among schoolchildren in the Valley. "We started to make people aware about the benefits of iodized salt. Programs were held with school teachers, doctors, paramedics and health authorities. Media was also roped in," says Zargar.

The recent study was about the total prevalence of goitre and urinary iodine excretion in Kashmiri schoolchildren after 15 years of iodization. The study covered 9,576 schoolchildren, aged between five and 15 years, across the Valley.