2013 Iodine Nutrition in Africa: An Update for 2014

Abstract

The elimination of iodine deficiency and its serious consequences, called the iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), are among the health priorities of most countries in the world. These IDDs include impaired mental development, adverse effects on growth, infant mortality, hypothyroidism, reproductive failure, and endemic goitre, which may lead to decreased educability, apathy, and reduced work capacity and may ultimately result in impaired social and economic development. Salt iodization programs in approximately 150 countries have markedly improved the global iodine nutritional status over the past decade. This is reflected in the decrease in the number of iodine-deficient countries worldwide fr om 54 in 2003 to 47 in 2007 and then to 32 in 2011.3 Despite remarkable progress, the successes have been regionally variable, with some regions showing little progress. Against the background of a general global improvement in iodine status and a marked improvement in four of the six WHO regions since 2003, the trend in Africa indicated a small decrease in the proportion of school-age children (SAC) with insufficient iodine intake as judged by urinary iodine concentration (UIC) below 100 μg/L, while the number of African SAC with insufficient iodine intake remained the same between 2007 and 2011.