Although the National Salt Strategy 2018-2023 was originally scheduled to be completed this year, the ministry was unable to achieve the targeted objectives due to the Covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, the strategy has been extended to 2025, according to health officials
As per the results of the Non-Communicable Disease (NCDs) risk factors step survey 2019, the average Bhutanese population’s salt intake based on spot urine testing was 8.3 grams per day. This is almost twice the recommended value of 5 grams per day set by the World Health Organisation (WHO).
According to health experts, this excessive salt intake has been linked to a higher risk of non-communicable diseases (NCDs), which account for 69% of all deaths in Bhutan.
The Ministry of Health (MoH) has developed a national salt strategy (2018-2023) with a goal to reduce salt intake by 15% (7.6 grams per day).
“Although the National Salt strategy 2018-2023 was originally scheduled to be completed this year, the ministry was unable to achieve the targeted objectives due to the covid 19 pandemic. Therefore, the strategy has been extended to 2025, and ultimately reduce it by 30% by 2025 to prevent further NCD deaths,” an official from the MoH said.
He also added that excessive salt intake has been linked to an increased risk for heart and kidney diseases, high blood pressure, and dehydration.
According to the WHO, annually over nine million deaths worldwide are associated with high blood pressure caused by excessive salt intake.
Meanwhile, the MoH aims to make national salt reduction strategy a successful one by adopting four directions to make the salt strategy successful, including strengthening governance, partnerships, and regulatory measures; increasing information, education, and communication; promoting healthy settings; and strengthening evidence generation, monitoring, and evaluation.
“This will ultimately lead to the prevention of NCD death in the country,” the health official said.
Meanwhile, the sources of dietary salt in Bhutan mostly come from discretionary salt added to cooking, while a small proportion comes from pre-packaged processed food. The most commonly consumed pre-packaged foods by the Bhutanese population, as categorized by the cutoff levels, are Amul butter, Amul cheese, and noodles like koka, waiwai, mimi, and others, according to the shop survey carried out by the Lifestyle Related Disease Program.
Reduction in salt intake has been indicated as an essential strategy to achieve the global target of 25% reduction in premature mortality due to NCDs by 2025, according to the WHO factsheet 2015 cited in the Step report.
Additionally, reducing salt intake by 30% is one of the nine key targets to prevent NCD deaths by 2025. The other eight targets include establishing 80% availability of affordable technology and medicine to treat NCDs, ensuring that 50% of people receive preventive therapy for heart attacks and strokes, halting the rise in diabetes and obesity, reducing the harmful use of alcohol by 10%, reducing premature death by 25% of people aged 30 to 70 from cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes, or chronic respiratory diseases, reducing the prevalence of insufficient physical activity by 10%, reducing tobacco use by 30%, and reducing the prevalence of high blood pressure by 25%.
Pema Lethro of WHO, Bhutan’s country office, stated that globally, high blood pressure is a leading preventable risk factor for heart disease, stroke, death, and disability, causing nine million deaths annually. Eating too much salt has been linked to high blood pressure, increased risk for heart disease and kidney disease, and increased water retention, which can lead to swelling in the body and dehydration.
Pema Lethro also emphasized that schools, institutes, monasteries, and other places with a large population should be careful while adding salt to their food, as one of the boarding schools’ curry were found to have a very high amount of salt when checked with a salt meter.
“Everyone should be careful about their salt intake, as unhealthy dietary habits can lead to stroke and hypertension in the long run. Thus, it is crucial to follow the national salt strategy to reduce salt intake by 30% and prevent NCD deaths in Bhutan,” he added.
Tshering Pelden from Thimphu
