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Sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency disorders by 2005. |
Current status
The most recent data indicate that 37 countries have reached the target of at least 90 per cent of households using adequately iodized salt. This is up from 21 countries in 2002, when the universal salt iodization (USI) goal was established at the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children. Despite this significant progress, about 40 million newborns a year, almost half of them in South Asia, remain unprotected from the enduring consequences of brain damage associated with iodine deficiency.
40 million newborns are not protected against iodine deficiency disorder
Number of newborns not protected against iodine deficiency disorder, in millions, 2003–2009
Source:UNICEF global databases 2010, from Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) and other national surveys.
UNICEF estimates that 72 per cent of all households in developing countries now consume adequately iodized salt. Latin America and the Caribbean and East Asia and the Pacific are the only regions close to attaining the USI target.
At the other end of the spectrum, less than half of all households in Eastern and Southern Africa use adequately iodized salt, indicating that the greatest need for enhanced efforts is in this region. Although the West and Central Africa region can boast high levels of coverage overall, this is largely due to high coverage in two populous nations – Nigeria (with 97 per cent coverage) and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (79 per cent) – which masks the low coverage in many smaller countries of the region.
More than one quarter of all countries in Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States (CEE/CIS) have achieved the USI target of 90 per cent, but overall regional coverage remains among the lowest in the world, given that the Russian Federation, the most populous country in the region, dominates the average with only 35 per cent of households consuming iodized salt.
Latin America and Caribbean, East Asia and Pacific are close to achieving the USI target of 90 per cent
Percentage of households consuming adequately iodized salt, 2003–2009
Source: UNICEF global databases 2010, from MICS, DHS and other national surveys.
In more than half of the 50 countries with disparity data, the richest 20 per cent of households were more likely to use adequately iodized salt than the poorest 20 per cent. In 45 of 55 countries where background information was available, iodized salt was more likely to be consumed in urban areas than in rural areas. Further attention is needed to identify and address barriers to the equitable use of adequately iodized salt in affected communities.
Iodized salt consumption is higher among the richest households than the poorest households in countries with available data
Percentage of households consuming adequately iodized salt among the richest 20 per cent of households as compared to the poorest 20 per cent, by country, 2003–2009
Note: This chart is based on 50 countries with available disparity data. Each circle represents data from one country. The size of a circle is proportional to the size of a country’s population. The horizontal axis represents the percentage of the poorest 20 per cent of households consuming adequately iodized salt, while the vertical axis represents the percentage of the richest 20 per cent of households. Circles along the green line represent countries in which the likelihood of consuming adequately iodized salt is similar among the richest and the poorest households. Circles above or below the green line suggest disparity. The closeness of circles to the upper-left corner indicates greater advantage for the richest households in that country (greater disadvantage for the poorest households).
Source: UNICEF global databases 2010, from MICS, DHS and national nutrition surveys, with additional analysis by UNICEF.
References
UNICEF, Progress for Children: Achieving the MDGs with equity, UNICEF, New York, 2010