Nutrition International, WHO to address India’s salt and iodine dilemma

Policymakers and practitioners kick off a series of stakeholder consultations to reduce salt intake while maintaining adequate iodine nutrition for the country’s population

Nutrition International, World Health Organisation Country Office for India (WHO, India), Resolve to Save Lives (RTSL) and Iodine Global Network (IGN) came together to convene a consultative meeting to address the critical public health challenge of salt reduction across the Indian population while maintaining adequate iodine nutrition. 

Stakeholders including policymakers, experts, and practitioners united for the consultative meeting where discussions underscored the importance of coordinated policy development and effective implementation. This will form the foundation for reducing salt intake to prevent cardiovascular diseases while aligning it with the goals of universal salt iodisation to avert iodine deficiency disorders. The WHO recommends that dietary salt consumption should be less than 5 g (an equivalent of 2 g of sodium) per person per day. However, recent data on salt intake levels in India show consumption to be almost double the recommended amount. This is also a leading cause of hypertension which unfortunately today affects an estimated 220 million people in India. On the other hand, evidence shows that every $1 invested in sodium reduction saves $19 in health costs, illustrating the significant economic and public health benefits of these interventions.