The Bhutanese Leading the way.
In a recent health survey conducted in Bhutan, encouraging progress has been reported in the country’s efforts to combat Iodine Deficiency Disorder (IDD).
One of the key revelations from the survey is the household coverage with iodised salts in preventing iodine deficiency.
The survey findings revealed that 95.07 percent of households in Bhutan have access to iodized salt with an iodised content of 15 parts per million (ppm) or higher.
While this coverage is commendable there is a slight decrease from the previous National Nutrition Survey in 2015, where the coverage stood at 99 percent.
Despite the slight decrease in salt iodisation coverage compared to previous years, the current level still surpasses the recommended threshold set by leading organisations such as UNICEF, the Iodine Global Network, and the World Health Organization.
Simultaneously, the survey delved into the levels of urinary iodine intake in the analysis of urinary iodine intake in the body
“All the households salt was tested using rapid MBI kit to access the coverage of iodised salt in the household level. Urine samples was collected from school aged children 6-12 years, Pregnant and lactating women for measuring urinary iodine excretion.” (National Health Survey, 2024.)
The overall median urinary iodine excretion of 114 µg/L micrograms per liter) , while pregnant and lactating women showed a slightly higher at 124 µg/L.
Alarmingly, a small proportion of the population was found to have varying degrees of iodine deficiency, with less than 1 percent classified as severely deficient, 4.8 percent as moderately deficient, and 28.4 percent as mildly deficient.
These statistics highlights that there needs to be more awareness campaigns to help educate this part of the people about the salt intake.
WHO’s classification of IDD highlights the significance of maintaining adequate iodine intake, particularly for vulnerable groups, such as school-aged children and pregnant women.
