Iodine Global Network (IGN)

Iodine in the global news

12. January 2013

Bangladesh Workshop kicks off campaign to improve quality of iodized salt

With financial and technical support from the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) and ICCIDD, the Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation convened a two-day workshop in Dhaka last week announcing its new quality assurance manual...

09. January 2013

Australian students lagging...because of iodine deficiency?

Australian schoolchildren are underperforming (27th in reading, 22nd in science, 18th in math in international tests) and the result may not be failing schools, but underconsumption of dietary iodine, posits ICCIDD regional coordinator Dr. Cres Eastman...

05. January 2013

UK world 8th worst in iodine deficiency

"Shockingly high levels of iodine deficiency found in Welsh schoolchildren risk causing mental impairment in future generations," Wales Online reported January 5th. The news report summarized a study published in the Institute of Welsh Affairs' journal,...

05. January 2013

Price differential hampers iodized salt use in Nepal

An article in the January 5th issue of Republica reports the price of iodized salt at 20-22 rupees in the Bajura, Nepal, compared to 12 rupees for locally-produced but non-iodized salt. The price difference has impeded public health efforts to promote...

31. December 2012

"Communications mistake" Penalizes Pakistan's salt iodization

Seventeen years ago, miscommunication in Pakistan's maternal health initiative implanted the falsehood that iodine fortification was being done for birth control, a story by Richard Leiby in the Washington Post reported. As a result, only 17 percent of...

30. December 2012

Venkatesh Mannar Awarded Canada's Top Civilian Honor

Venkatesh Mannar, president of the Micronutrient Initiative and long-standing ICCIDD director, has been appointed to the Order of Canada, one of Canada's highest civilian honors, recognizing his lifetime achievements and service to Canada and humanity at...

27. December 2012

Poland sustains iodine sufficiency

Poland was among the first countries in Eastern Europe to achieve iodine sufficiency and a study just published in Thyroid Research Journal confirms that the 1997 program of mandated use of iodized salt has sustained those gains. The study by ...

19. December 2012

All prenatal vitamins should include iodine

Because iodine intakes by expectant American mothers have been in steady decline, all prenatal vitamins should include iodine according to an editorial in the December 19 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA). One of the three...

07. December 2012

Canada's first national study confirms good iodine status

Statistics Canada has just published the nation's first national study of iodine sufficiency. The Canadian Health Measures Survey, 2009 to 2011 confirms good iodine nutrition in all population age groups with mild deficiency discovered in 22% of the...

07. December 2012

Tanzania enlists media to educate consumers to avoid non-iodized salt

The Tanzania Daily News reported Dec. 2 an effort by the Department of Nutrition to encourage consumers to stop buying "widely sold...unhealthy" iodized salt. "Iodine is an essential micro-nutrient required for the normal growth and development of...

06. December 2012

Non-iodized salt imports may cause thyroid disorder - experts warn

Thyroid disorder may come back to haunt the nation as non-iodized salt's penetration of the local market is growing, health experts have warned. Imported salt products, which are mostly non-iodized, now have an estimated market share of about 20 percent,...

25. November 2012

Salt iodization reduces Pakistan's maternal iodine deficiency from 37% to 4%

Pakistan's National Nutrition Survey 2011 has been released, documenting a reduction in iodine deficiency among mothers from 37% to 4%, The Nation reported Nov. 25. Public health authorities credit effective implementation of universal salt iodization...

21. November 2012

Iodized salt quality concerns in Sri Lanka

The Sri Lanka Health Ministry has not issued guidelines to Sri Lankan salt producers, and, as a result, there salt packets contain variable amounts of iodine, some too little, others too much, charged consultant nutritionist Dr. Ms. Renuka Jayatissa as...

19. November 2012

Ignoring dietary iodine, Australian study calls fro iodine supplements for expectant, new moms

Researchers at Murdoch University in the heartland of Australia's salt-producing region, have published a review ignoring the contribution of iodine-fortified salt to the iodine intake of expectant mothers and those breastfeeding their infants and...

14. November 2012

Only 22% of households in Gambia use iodized salt

Gambia's National Nutrition Agency rates IDD a major health problem in this West African country with only 22% of households in The Gambia using iodized salt and 16% of the population has visible goiters, according to FOROYAA Newspaper (Serrekunda),...

09. November 2012

Backsliding in Vietnam after mandatory salt iodization repealed

After a 1993 survey found Vietnamese schoolchildren consumed only 32 micrograms of iodine daily, a third of the recommended level, Vietnam mandated all food salt be iodized. The IDD problem was under control by 1995; schoolchildren were consuming 113...

02. November 2012

Iodized salt safe, does not induce thyroid cancer: Chinese Ministry of Health

"Iodized salt is efficient in preventing iodine deficiencies and will not induce thyroid cancer," China's Ministry of Health announced Nov. 2 in Sina English. The Ministry cited ICCIDD as affirming its conclusion. Rumors have recently spread online...

01. November 2012

Vegetarians need iodine: U.S. research study

theYogaDr., an online advisory for vegans and vegetarians, reported a study published last year as "the first to look specifically at the iodine status and thyroid function of U.S. vegetarians. It showed that iodine deficiency is a concern for vegans ...

17. October 2012

Even mild iodine deficiency for expectant mothers associated with impaired function in children: Dutch study

While severe iodine deficiency of the pregnant mother imposes well-documented impairment of mental development and function of her offspring, the effect of mild iodine deficiency in cognitive function is less-studied...until now. A study from Erasmus...

12. October 2012

Improved iodine nutrition in Ghana would save country US $229 million

A new study by the Ghana Health Service projects savings of 1.7 billion GHC (US$890 million) through investing in nutrition programs to correct deficiencies in iodine, iodine and to prevent stunted growth, the Ghana News Agency reports. Included are...

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