 Slow starters catching up in salt iodizationThree years ago, 48 developing countries were reported in The Progress of Nations as having no active salt iodization programmes. Today, most of them have begun to iodize their salt or import iodized salt. Progress in 14 of them has been dramatic, with salt iodization levels crossing the 50% mark. Topping the chart are Tunisia (98%), Lebanon (92%) and Zambia (90%). Ten of the countries with no data are either known to be producing iodized salt, have enacted legislation to do so or have installed the iodizing equipment.It was estimated that up until 1990, about 40 million infants—one third of all babies born each year in the world—were at some risk of mental impairment due to iodine deficiency in their mothers’ diets. This year, because of the worldwide increase in the use of iodized salt, 12 million children are expected to be spared that risk. And the number of babies born cretins (suffering from severe and irreversible mental and physical damage) is expected to have dropped by more than half, from around 120,000 in 1990 to under 55,000 worldwide.
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