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A DAY IN THE LIFE OF RAJAN SANKAR
Launch of a fortified wheat flour program in Rajasthan, India. Marc Van Ameringen (right), formerly Executive Director of GAIN, and Dr Gupta, Director of the Institute of Health Management Research, Rajasthan (left).
I noticed signs of iodine deficiency in the local population, whose local diet was lacking in naturally occurring sources of iodine (Sikkim is landlocked, and the nearest source of salt is 2,000 km away). This lack of iodine in the diet manifested itself in terms of goiter and neurological deficiencies. Having taken specialist advice in the matter, I conducted a 9-month epidemiological survey of the local population, which ascertained that 56% had goiter, with a cretinism rate of 5%, as well as other physical symptoms, such as deafness and muteness. The link between iodine deficiency and the health status of the population had not been understood before, but this research made it clear. When the results were published, the authorities were very supportive. The army extended my tenure by two years, and the
In an Anganwadi Center (community center) in Rajasthan
government established a thyroid research center for Sikkim, along with a salt iodization program. In the ensuing decade, this deficiency was eliminated in the local population. I then moved on to different fields – first radiation biology, and then clinical thyroidology – and eventually left the army, initially to do a six-month course in nutrition policy at Tufts University in Medford, MA, USA and then to a role with Canada’s Micronutrient Initiative, where I held the position of Senior Technical Adviser South Asia. This involved further work in the field of micronutrition, with a focus especially on anemia and vitamin A deficiency, and I became responsible for a number of food fortification programs in Nepal and India. I moved on to UNICEF for a year, and was then offered a position with GAIN (the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition), which was under the directorship of Marc Van Ameringen at the time. As the Regional Representative for South Asia, I established offices in India and Bangladesh, but I also worked in Pakistan, Afghanistan and China, focusing on the fortification of staple foods including edible oil, milk and wheat flour – 40 products across 22 countries, in fact. This was a very rich and rewarding experience for me. On reaching retirement age, I wanted to return to clinical practice. An opportunity presented itself at Tata Trusts, which before too long developed into my current full-time role. I feel very privileged to have this position – and I still do some clinical work in the field of thyroidology. The fight against iodine deficiency has always been important to me, and I am now focusing on children who are born without a thyroid gland (congenital hypothyroidism). Less than