A non-profit organisation in India has come up with an incredible initiative to ensure Indian women are getting enough iodine by administering the essential mineral through bindis (or ‘life-saving dots’ as they have been dubbed).
The organisation, called the Neelvasant Medical Foundation and Research Centre, worked with ad agency Grey to create and distribute “…medically enhanced versions” of bindis due to the common issue of iodine-deficiency in rural India according to Adweek.
The concept is similar to that of a nicotine patch. Iodine has been dripped on to each one and is then absorbed through the skin and into the blood stream when worn.
The agency cites breast cancer, fibrocystic breast disease, and complications during pregnancy as examples of the health complications which are linked to iodine deficiency.
The iodized dots have been distributed in four areas, with the help of Talwar Bindi – into Badli, a village near New Delhi, and three parts of the Maharastra state: Niphal, Peth and Kopergaon/Sinnar.
