Iodine Deficiency Pass the Iodized Salt, Please By Suzanne Freeman

	A factory worker in Yemen adds a drop of testing solution to a handful of salt to check if it is iodized. The test, which turns the salt purple if it is iodized, is run after the salt has been processed and before it is packaged for distribution. (Photo: Courtsey of UNICEF/HQ98-0992/Giancomo Pirozzi)

An international network to eliminate iodine deficiency was announced in May during the UN Special Session on Children. Iodizing salt is a simple process that can eliminate iodine deficiency in children. The lack of iodized salt can cause physical and mental disabilities in an entire generation of children.

Increasing the supply of iodized salt to developing countries was one of the success stories of the working session on children 12 years ago. At that session, the Convention on the Rights of the Child was written. The document was updated at the recent UN session.

"We can eliminate iodine deficiencies by 2005," said Venkatesh Mannar, president of the Micronutrient Initiative. He spoke at a press conference during the UN Special Session on Children. He was accompanied by representatives from the Kiwanis International, Circle K Convenience Stores, and Morton Salt.

As recently as 1990, less than 20 percent of the world's people had access to iodized salt, according to UNICEF figures. Iodine deficiency can lower the average intelligence quotient of a population by as much as 13 points, limiting a countries ability to grow economically.

The newly created Network for Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency is a partnership of public, private, and UN agencies. Three of the main challenges it faces in achieving its goals will be to:

• Sustain countries that have already reached the goal of eliminating idodine deficiency
• Help the countries close to the goal to actually achieve it
• Work with countries not yet close to the goal

"Almost everyone in the world consumes salt, regardless of culture, religion, or socioeconomic status," Mannar said. "The combination of its universal use and the relative ease of fortifying it make salt an excellent vehicle for providing essential nutrients to large populations."

Graph Info: UNICEF
Graphics: Jim McMahon