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The Handing Over Ceremony of the Storage Facilities of Iodized Salt was held in Biratnagar on April 16, 2002. Ambassador Kaminaga and honorable Mr. Purna Bahadur Khadkha, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies were present on the occasion. The Government of Japan has extended grant assistance to the Government of Nepal for the improvement of storage facilities of iodized salt in two phases.

Phase I has been successfully completed this year in Biratnagar and Janakpur with 5,000 MT and 2,000 MT storage capacities, respectively. Phase II is being implemented currently in four other places - Birganj, Bhairahawa, Nepalganj and Dhangadi and is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2003.

Ambassador Kaminaga congratulated all the concerned officials and workers for their success in completing Phase I of the Project and expressed his hope that the storage facilities would be of great help to Nepal for eliminating iodine deficiency disorder.

Expressing his gratitude to the Government of Japan, Minister Khadka said that the facilities would bring a significant improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of managing storage facilities and supplying adequate amounts of iodized salt to a large number of people, thus preventing health problems related to iodine deficiency.

Iodine deficiency is still one of the major prevailing public health problems in Nepal. In the year 1997, 20% of the population was reported to be affected by goiter. Since then its control has been one of the top priorities in people's health care. Under the 9th Five Year Plan, the Government of Nepal has committed to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders in Nepal by the year 2002.

However, due to the lack of adequate storage and other facilities for re-iodization of salt, salt distributed to the consumers does not contain the required amount of iodine. It has been the biggest hurdle for the Government in its effort to control iodine deficiency disorder in Nepal. Considering the extent of the problem, the Government of Japan decided to support the Government of Nepal to construct storage facilities for iodized salt in six cities - Janakpur, Birganj, Biratnagar, Bhairahawa, Nepalganj and Dhangadi.

The facilities are expected to enable Nepal not only to increase its present storage capacity but also to protect iodine loss during storage. Under the Project, equipment for handling and quality control were also provided together with iodization plant and packing facility to ensure that iodized salt reaches people in proper condition.

Above all, it is necessary to carry out an extensive public campaign to create awareness among the people about the consumption of iodized salt so as to eliminate iodine deficiency disorder from Nepal.