Various agencies coming from both national and regional government branches, the private sector, and representatives from UNICEF, have gathered in a forum, with the objective of replicating the formation of a Bantay Asin task force particularly in Regions of CAR, 2, 4a, 4b, 6, 7, and 8 where high prevalence of IDD was noted, proved very effective. The formation of such a task force addressed the immediate bottlenecks that prevent the assured supply of adequately-iodized salt, at the provincial and municipal levels. The best practice of such regional task forces suggests that the measures each region requires vary and by no means always replicable in other regions. This may be attributed to the differing channels of distribution of salt from the source of supply in the regions. Meanwhile, the disturbing UIE levels based on mild to severe cases of children aged 6-12 years of age (39.7% distribution), pregnant (49% of distribution) and lactating mothers (59.5% of distribution) only indicates that a Bantay Asin task force should be initiated at the regional level, and then replicated at the provincial and municipal levels.

An assessment study of the extent of the Patak sa Asin in the Market found out that efforts to intensively monitor the iodine levels in salt have waned since after the campaign of Patak sa Asin. Because monitoring has taken a back seat, there is a widespread lack of information about the program and the IDD situation. The six provinces of Bicol region still remain in the list of areas with high prevalence of malnutrition, and IDD is identified as one of the contributing factors.

The event will be attended by representatives of various stakeholders coming from both private sector and government agencies, which were invited by DOH, FDA, NNC and UNICEF. Said forum will be held at the Hotel St. Ellis, Legazpi City on 20 February 2014, from 8:00 to 5:00 p.m.