Procrastination in implementing universal salt iodization is depleting Ukraine's intellectual potential and "degrading society" concluded speakers at a September 23 seminar in Kiev held in conjunction with the 4th National Congress on Bioethics, reports UNICEF/Kiev.

"Representing the nation's different regions, Ukrainian scientists confirmed in their reports that a serious iodine deficiency exists in the country which inevitably entails degradation of the society. The international medicine recognizes that a continuous iodine deficiency leads to a loss of 10-15 IQ points, mental retardation or even infantile hypothyroidism, as well as to an increase in morbidity and a decrease in work capacity.

"Such way, today the Ukrainian society is losing its intellectual, professional and educational potential. Scientists already record absence of children with better-than-average intellect and an increase in the number of children with low and very low intellect in the regions with evident iodine deficiency.

“'The right for full-fledged development and health is every child's integral right. And iodine is necessary for that', emphasized in his speech Professor Michael Zimmerman (Switzerland), Member of the Board of Directors of the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency (ICCIDD). He provided the results of the researches of the international medicine that confirm the danger of the situation in Ukraine."