ZAGREB, 4 Mar (2022) - Health Minister Vili Beroš said on Friday that sufficient quantities of iodine tablets were being procured but that they would only be distributed in case of need, and he again called on citizens not to take them on their own initiative in fear of radiation because they have dangerous side effects.

"They are high doses of iodine which have a number of dangerous side effects - ranging from allergic rashes, gastrointestinal disorders, salivary gland infections, to thyroid failure," Beroš warned in a statement to the press, commenting on the increased interest in iodine tablets following the fire in Ukraine's largest nuclear power plant.

The Ministry of Health, said Beroš, has been in talks for days with manufacturers on the procurement of sufficient quantities of iodine tablets, and domestic galenic laboratories can also produce significant quantities. Iodine tablets will be handed out if necessary, but there will not be any preventive distribution because it has been estimated that some people would take them on their own initiative. One dose with two tablets costs about HRK 8, and the shelf life is five years so stocks are regularly renewed.

Their protection lasts for a maximum of 24 hours, Beroš pointed out, adding that they have to be taken just a few hours following the incident and that they only protect from radioactive iodine and not from other radioactive isotopes.

To use iodine, he said, it is necessary to have information on the amount and type of radiation, as well as meteorological data, and the services for protection against radioactive and nuclear radiation monitor those parameters on a daily basis.

Only in accordance with these data will the distribution of iodine be organised, through civil protection services, the minister said after visiting the motel Plitvice, a reception centre for refugees from Ukraine.

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