Did you know: Goiter Awareness Week

Goiter Awareness Week is observed every fourth week of January by virtue of Presidential Proclamation No. 1188 signed on Dec. 11, 2006.

Goiter, the abnormal enlargement of the thyroid gland, and other signs of iodine deficiency was deemed a matter of national concern that needed public awareness.

The Department of Health was tasked as the lead agency for the observance, in coordination with the Philippine Thyroid Association, Philippine Society of Nuclear Medicine, Philippine Society of Endocrinology and Metabolism and International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders-Philippines. —MARIELLE MEDINA, INQUIRER RESEARCH