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National conference urges Government of Ukraine to take immediate action to prevent Ukrainian children from mental retardation.

2005, a girl from the Children’s Home # 3 “Solnyshko” (“The small sun”), the city of Odesa located by the Black Sea, Southern Ukraine

Kyiv, 3 June - A national conference ‘End Iodine Deficiency Forever’ that has just ended in Kiev appealed to the Government of Ukraine to meet its commitment to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders in the country. Conference participants appealed to the Government of the country to adopt a Law on universal salt iodisation.

The conference gathered together health care, nutrition and salt industry specialists from Ukraine and the neighbouring countries of Bulgaria, Poland and Russia, as well as representatives of the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), World Health Organisation, the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD), and the Centres of Disease Control, Atlanta, USA.

Iodine deficiency disorders are a serious nationwide public health problem in Ukraine, with 80% of newborns being at risk of low iodine intake and 300,000 newborns failing to be protected from irreversible mental and cognitive damage every year. The worst cases of iodine deficiency can cause severe mental retardation such as cretinism. In childhood, iodine deficiency can also result in speech and hearing defects, delayed motor development and impaired physical growth. Iodine deficiency also causes goitre. A low iodine intake during pregnancy and in the first months of an infant’s life can decrease the intelligence quotient (IQ) of a child by 10-15 points, with serious implications for a country’s future human and economic development.

“Iodine deficiency disorders can be eliminated quite simply,” said David Haxton, Executive Director of ICCIDD. “In the course of a lifetime, a single teaspoon of iodine is sufficient to protect them from iodine deficiency disorders. It’s necessary for the human organism to consume small portions of iodine on the daily basis, and iodised salt is perfect for this purpose. Iodised salt is universally recognised as the most efficient, safe and cost-effective way to reach the entire population,” he said. The challenge for Ukraine is to enact legislation to ensure that all of Ukrainians consume only iodised salt.

At the United Nations General Assembly Special Session on Children in 2002 the Government of Ukraine made a commitment to eliminate iodine deficiency disorders by the end of 2005 through adoption of national legislation on universal salt iodisation. “The Government bears the burden and responsibility to ensure that their children grow up without brain damage and to fulfil their potential to lead socially and economically productive lives” said UNICEF Representative in Ukraine, Jeremy Hartley.

UNICEF has been assisting the Government of Ukraine to address iodine deficiencies since 1997. In 2004 UNICEF conducted an assessment of the potential cost of iodine deficiency in terms of the loss of future productivity and the cost-benefit of iodising all salt for human consumption compared with the costs of using pharmaceuticals containing iodine for risk groups such as children and pregnant women. The assessment showed that over the next five years the potential loss of future productivity due to inadequate iodine nutrition could amount to over 650 million UAH.

While Ukraine produces more than enough salt for the entire population and even exports iodised salt, only 20% of households in Ukraine consume sufficient iodised salt to prevent iodine deficiency disorders.

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