Elimination of Mental Defect due to Iodine Deficiency by the Year 2000

Abstract

The WHO estimates one billion people to be at risk of iodine deficiency disorders of which mental defect is the most significant feature. Of these, 20 million are estimated to be suffering from some degree of preventable mental defect due mainly to the effects of iodine deficiency in pregnancy. The elimination of iodine deficiency disorders as a public health problem by the year 2000 has been accepted by the UN system at the World Summit for Children (1990) and the World Health Assembly (1990). In the light of the remarkable progress of national IDD control programs since 1985 there is justifiable confidence that this objective can be realised.