East African USI strategy reviewed, refined |
| Posted by Administrator (admin) on [PUBL_DATE] |
ICCIDD executive director David Haxton has filed a report on a recent ICCIDD-sponsored workshop for 10 East African country USI teams in Arusha, Tanzania. ICCIDD organiized the workshp in cooperation with UNICEF and ECSA (The East and Central African Ministers of Health Assocation). The meeting reviewed country situations and approved revised strategies to overcome current obstacles.
In summary the major conclusions are:
- in Somalia to seek to get the major producers in the North of the country to reach maximum production since their products reach a very large percentage of the population
- in Kenya to reduce the level of iodization to recognized international standards and teams are at work on this with a target of year end for an announcement
- In Uganda, it is expected that the Government will seek and international assessment since household access to iodized salt is above 90%. It is now reviewed the Global Network guidelines in preparation for that event
- Lesotho and Malawi have reached high levels of household access but still have problems with regulatory enforcement on some border sites
- Tanzania will focus on improving production by small producers and offering more collaborative support for that purpose
- Zimbabwe will seek an international assessment to document its success in reaching all households with adequately iodized salt
- Angola and Mozambique had long been challenged with lagging production of iodized salt even by large producers. An ICCIDD expert with UNICEF support spent a good bit of time in Angola and the production has not reach significant levels in the country. In Mozambique, progress is dramatic
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Significantly, despite the drought conditions and the growing famine in the country, the Government of Ethiopia sees opportunities for progress at very low cost and has agreed that the new commission under the leadership of the MInister of Energy will hold a workshop in Afar Province were major production facilities are located and seek Regional Government support and collaboration dramatically to increase availability of iodized salt.
The full report is under preparation and will be posted next week. All the data on levels of achievement of USI and progress toward IDD Elimination are in the report in the Members Section and in the ICCIDD Scorecard for the region.
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