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. 2013 Sep;138(3):418-33.

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) control in India

Chandrakant S Pandav  1 , Kapil Yadav, Rahul Srivastava, Rijuta Pandav, M G Karmarkar
Affiliations

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) control in India

Chandrakant S Pandav et al. Indian J Med Res. 2013 Sep.

Abstract

Iodine deficiency disorders (IDD) constitute the single largest cause of preventable brain damage worldwide. Majority of consequences of IDD are invisible and irreversible but at the same time these are preventable. In India, the entire population is prone to IDD due to deficiency of iodine in the soil of the subcontinent and consequently the food derived from it. To combat the risk of IDD, salt is fortified with iodine. However, an estimated 350 million people do not consume adequately iodized salt and, therefore, are at risk for IDD. Of the 325 districts surveyed in India so far, 263 are IDD-endemic. The current household level iodized salt coverage in India is 91 per cent with 71 per cent households consuming adequately iodized salt. The IDD control goal in India was to reduce the prevalence of IDD below 10 per cent in the entire country by 2012. What is required is a "mission approach" with greater coordination amongst all stakeholders of IDD control efforts in India. Mainstreaming of IDD control in policy making, devising State specific action plans to control IDD, strict implementation of Food Safety and Standards (FSS) Act, 2006, addressing inequities in iodized salt coverage (rural-urban, socio-economic), providing iodized salt in Public Distribution System, strengthening monitoring and evaluation of IDD programme and ensuring sustainability of IDD control activities are essential to achieve sustainable elimination of IDD in India.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Decrease in goitre prevalence after salt iodization in the Kangra Valley study (1956-72)22. Prevalence of goiter in 1952 was 40 per cent in all the three zones. In zone B (Control group), intervention (iodized salt) was done in 1962.
Box 1
Box 1
Case study of Rajiv Gandhi Mission for Elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, Madhya Pradesh, 1994 to 1996
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Progress in household level adequately iodized salt coverage in India using salt testing kits (STKs). CES, Coverage Evaluation Surgery 200915; NFHS2, National Family Health Survey50; DLHS2, District Level Household Survey51; NFHS3, National Family Health Survey 249.
Box 2
Box 2
Evolution of goals of IDD control program in India
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Social process model for a national IDD control programme. Source: Ref. .
Fig. 4
Fig. 4
Schematic representation of availability of key components essential for implementation of Neonatal Hypothyroidism Screening Program in India and its comparison with western countries. (“x” denotes absence of the key component). Source: Ref. .
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

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