'The job is not done', Annan tells meeting on elimination of iodine deficiency

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today called international efforts to make iodized salt available worldwide one of the successes of globalization, but warned that with 30 per cent of the world still without access to it, "The job is not done."

"One of the most pressing challenges of our times is to make globalization work for all people. And one way to move closer towards that goal is for governments, the UN system, private sector enterprises and civil society groups to forge partnerships around specific goals, and then work with creativity and determination to achieve them," Mr. Annan said in remarks to the High-Level meeting on the Elimination of Iodine Deficiency in Beijing, delivered by Carol Bellamy, Executive Director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF).

"A wonderfully concrete example of that approach is what has brought you all together for this conference in Beijing: the elimination of iodine deficiency, the world's single greatest cause of mental retardation, through universal salt iodization."

Mr. Annan said that since the World Summit for Children in 1990, "a tremendously effective public-private-UN partnership has led to more than two billion additional people having access to iodized salt.

"As a result, 90 million newborns are now protected from brain damage, and hundreds of millions of children are performing better in school," he said.

"Yet the job is not done. Thirty percent of the world's population still lacks access to iodized salt, leaving more than 40 million children at great risk. We owe it to them in particular, the future of our world, to ensure that they are born healthy and grow up with every chance to realize their full human potential," he said.