ABSTRACT
Only a few countries like the Scandinavian countries, Switzerland, Japan, Australia, the USA and Canada were completely iodine sufficient before 1990. Since then, globally, the number of households using iodized salt has risen from 20% to 68%, dramatically reducing iodine deficiency [1]. This effort has been spurred by UN agencies and International NGOs including WHO, UNICEF, MI and ICCIDD, working closely with national IDD control committees and the salt industry, and funded by Kiwanis International, the Gates Foundation and country aid programs. In 2007, WHO estimated that nearly two billion individuals have an insufficient iodine intake including 1/3 of all school-age children [2] (Table 19.1).
