Universal Salt Iodization (USI) - FTP Directory Listing

www.unsystem.org/scn FEATURES 41which implies finality when many challenges to sustain progress remain. There should be many morefocused, professionally executed communication inputs directed at specific audiences. These should beappropriately segmented, and involve communities as a whole. The messages should be fine-tuned for bettereffect and focus on IDD’s impact on brain damage and the potential loss of IQ.Highlighting economic benefits: Given the overwhelming emphasis on economic development at almost alllevels of public authority, the economic benefit of IDD work should be stressed. Focus on cost effectiveness,GDP increases, and improvement in the quality of human capital will be helpful at the policy level.Updated information: Prompt action should be taken to counteract misinformation, the consequences ofwhich can be long lasting. It is necessary to respond to the exaggerated fear of salt on cardiovascular health.It is equally important to update medical texts about the brain damage dangers of IDD so that new medicaland health professionals are in step with the current global effort.Involving the education sector: It will become critical to bring the education sector into the IDD global fight asa principal stakeholder. School performance is a major responsibility of educators and IDD prevention shouldbe part of their core concerns. Educating oncoming generations about IDD should start with children inschools. There has been ad-hoc collaboration to get IDD messages into school health programs and curricula,but the sector’s participation in IDD elimination should be systematic at all levels of the education ladder.Salt industry as a key partner: The salt industry should not only produce and market iodized salt, but shouldbe a key player in IDD education at the consumer level. In China, for instance, there are 750,000 licensedsalt retailers; they represent a far larger army of IDD messengers than the relatively small pool of healthFigure 2: Strategic elements of Social MobilizationInputsNational PartnersProcess Outputs ImpactResultsI. Political•Policy/legislativeaction• Agenda setting• ResourcecommitmentII. Govt/experts•Policy/programmedevelopment•Resource allocation•ImplementationIII. Civil Society• Policy/programmeadvocate• ImplementationIV. Community• Program advocate• Implementation• Needs articulatedV. Households•Advocate•Implementation•Needs articulatedInformationcollection/analysisAdvocacyMarketingField research(quantitative andqualitative datacollection andanalysis)Media outreachTechnical assistanceTrainingCommunication/educationI. Political Level• Policy established• National resourcescommitted• Agenda promotedII. Govt/experts• Policy formulated• Resources allocated• Programs developedIII. Civil Society• Programs advocated• Implemented andmaintainedIV. Community• Programs advocated• Programsimplemented andmaintainedV. Households• Programs acceptedand implementedIncreased choiceEnhanced skills &capacitiesImprovedinformation flow &meaningfulinteraction betweensocietal levelImprovedindividuals &community ability tomanage efforts toimprove their ownsituationSupport frominternational agenciesImproveddevelopment statusback to contents SCN NEWS # 35