OBJECTIVE Fortification of food-grade (edible) salt with iodine is recommended as a safe, cost-effective and sustainable strategy for the prevention of iodine-deficiency disorders. The present paper examines the legislative framework for salt iodization in Asian countries. DESIGN We reviewed salt iodization legislation in thirty-six countries in Asia and the Pacific. We obtained copies of exi...

On questioning 126 households, only 9 (7.1 percent) used iodized salt whilst 74 (58.7 percent) households used only uniodized coarse salt and 7 (5.6 percent) used only uniodized fine salt. The remaining 36 (28.6 percent) households used both fine and coarse uniodized salt. Undoubtedly at this point in time legislation on "table" salt iodization must be interpreted to mean not only the iodizatio...

BACKGROUND In programs to control iodine deficiency disorders (IDD), sustainability is a major concern. IDD has recently recurred in countries where salt iodization programs have lapsed. OBJECTIVE The objective of the study was to describe the evolution of thyroid dysfunction after the discontinuation of salt iodization in a cohort of children in an area of severe endemic goiter. DESIGN Mor...

Voluntary iodization of table salt prior to 1995 had a beneficial effect on the prevalence of goitre in some areas in South Africa. However, it was, due to limited availability and unequal access, unsuccessful in eradicating iodine deficiency and endemic goitre. Against this background the international focus on the eradication of IDD stimulated the introduction of mandatory iodization of table...

BACKGROUND Goiter rates and iodine deficiency usually show marked improvement in efficacy studies of mandatory iodization of salt, but little is known about the short-term effectiveness of mandatory iodization. OBJECTIVE The aim of the study was to evaluate, after 1 y, the effectiveness of mandatory iodization of salt at an iodine concentration higher than that occurring under optional iodiza...

Objective: To evaluate the impact of salt iodization on the prevalence of goiter among school children in the city of Shiraz. Design: In 1989, prior to initiation of universal salt iodization in Iran, 2419 male and female students, 6-18 years were randomly selected and evaluated for the presence of goiter, which was graded according to WHO goiter classification. A similar study was carried out ...

OBJECTIVE To investigate the effect of the salt iodization program, which was initiated in 1989 on frequencies of thyroiditis and papillary carcinoma in Fars province of Iran, which was previously an iodine deficient area. METHODS Four hundred and eighty-two thyroidectomy specimens belonging to the pre-iodization period from 1983 to 1988, and 466 post iodization specimens from 1998 to 2003 we...

After a successful programme to prevent iodine deficiency disorders in the Islamic Republic of Iran in the 1990s and early 2000s, evidence emerged that urine iodine levels in the population were falling. This paper reviews efforts to monitor and enforce the iodization of salt production and shows the resulting improvements in iodization levels of factory table Salt and in urine iodine concentra...

OBJECTIVE To describe changes in household access to iodized salt in relation to socioeconomic factors. METHODS We extracted data on iodized household salt from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys conducted in 2000 and 2010. As part of the surveys, household salt samples were tested for iodization by standardized rapid-test kits that yield results to indicate whether salt is not iodized, inade...

Salt iodization is the universal strategy for elimination of IDD, the quality of iodization program is crucial for achieving this goal. Iodine deficiency (ID) is the world’s leading cause of intellectual deficits and associated with increased prevalence of goiter. In the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) there is an acute scarcity in IDD data across the country. In this concern, the influence of io...