Public health agencies in Switzerland and the United States realized 80 years ago the enormous benefits available by fortifying salt with iodine. Health agencies must provide the sustaining leadership to create and maintain long-term solutions to problems of iodine deficiency. In 1990 the United Nations' World Summit for Children identified iodizing salt as a Millennium Goal, recognizing that many countries had not yet put effective programs in place.
If you are an official in a country that has a strong program, perhaps your personal or agency expertise could be enlisted as technical support for another nation grappling with its challenge. In the U.S., for example, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has joined the global Network for the Sustained Elimination of Iodine Deficiency.
If you are an official in a country struggling to put an effective program in place, please know that many stand ready to support your efforts. Contact your ICCIDD Regional Coordinator or your UNICEF country office. Identify stakeholders who can be organized into a national coalition to explore the challenge and fashion a unique solution for unique challenge. Don't wait. Get started today.
