Trend of Iodine Status in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and Impact of the Universal Salt Iodization Programs: a Narra
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Trend of Iodine Status in the Eastern Mediterranean Region and Impact of the Universal Salt Iodization Programs: a Narrative Review Radhouene Doggui 1
&
Hanin Al-Jawaldeh 2 & Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh 3
Received: 7 January 2020 / Accepted: 14 February 2020 # Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2020
Abstract Recognizing the importance of iodine deficiency as a single most important preventable cause of brain damage, World Health Organization (WHO) urged all countries to scale up salt iodization since 1991 where iodine deficiency was declared as a global public health problem. All countries committed to report on the national iodine status of schoolaged children (6–12 years), every 3 years. This paper aims to evaluate the progress of countries in Eastern Mediterranean Region (EMR) toward the eradication of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) and recommend operational action to support implementation of the WHO Regional Nutrition Strategy (2020–2030). Salt iodization in EMR has been scaled up with significant progress in increasing the proportion of dietary salt which is adequately iodized. As a result, many countries such as Qatar, Kuwait, Bahrain, Jordan, Oman, and Iran have achieved, or are now on the threshold of achieving IDD elimination. The WHO in coordination with United Nations Children’s Fund is working with member states to ensure suitability of these achievements. Hence, efficient monitoring will help member states to measure the magnitude of IDD as a public health problem and to monitor the effects of the intervention on the iodine status of a population. Policy makers should take proactive steps to enforce mandatory regulatory measures for USI, through a multi-sectoral coordination, and careful assessments and estimates of iodine nutritional status. Coordination between the two national programs of USI and salt reduction intake is necessary. Keywords Iodine . Iodine deficiency . Urinary iodine . Iodized salt . Thyroid . Prevalence . East Mediterranean Region
Introduction Iodine is an indispensable trace element in the human body. Lack of iodine may deeply impair human health [1]. Indeed, iodine deficiency (ID) may affect all ages
* Radhouene Doggui [email protected]; [email protected] Hanin Al-Jawaldeh [email protected] Ayoub Al-Jawaldeh [email protected] 1
Department of Nutritional Sciences, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA, USA
2
Health Science Department, The American University of Madaba, Madaba 11821, Jordan
3
Department of Nutrition Sciences, University of Vienna, UZA2 Althantstrasse 14, 1090 Vienna, Austria
causing several iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) such as congenital anomalies, spontaneous abortion, and delayed physical and mental development [1]. Globally, two billion people are iodine deficient [2]. According to the recent published data concerning the epidemiology of ID [3], a broad distribution of median urinary iodine concentration (UIC) is reported among the countries of the region. Therefore, ensuring an adequate iodine s
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