About 450,000 students in Moldova will participate in an iodine salt consumption campaign conducted by the UNICEF and the Health Ministry and the Education Ministry. Launched on Wednesday, September 8 the two-month campaign is part of a bigger event, the National Campaign of Communication "Iodine Salt: Healthy Choice" and the National Plan of Eradication of Iodine-Deficiency Diseases in 1998-2005.

Deputy Education Minister Anatol Dubrovschi told journalists on Tuesday that the first phase of this campaign consists of lectures for junior students throughout Moldova on September 17 about the importance to consume iodine salt. The students will receive leaflets with information about the effects of iodine salt on human health.

According to Dubrovschi, the students will be told to take the leaflets home and discuss the content with their parents, and the signed detachable part of this paper will be returned to teachers. On the same day thousands of students will receive balloons and notebooks with the message of this campaign printed on these items.

Meanwhile medical assistants will visit families raising children under 7 to tell them the benefits of consumption of iodine salt.

The resident representative of UNICEF in Moldova, Giovanna Barberis, said the campaign is intended to raise the public awareness about the problem. About 24,000 new-borns each year remain unprotected from intellectual losses caused by the iodine deficit. Intellectual losses are not just a tragedy for these children but also a break in the way of growth and social development, she underlined.

According to health officials, poor nutrition is the cause of losses amounting to 10 million dollars (1 percent of GDP) in Moldova. Incorrect nutrition and subnutrition reduce intellectual coefficients, lead to mental retardation, cause anemia and obesity, cardio-vascular diseases and cancer, and affect the nervous system.