Variation in iodine concentration of salt at the local level following national salt iodization in Ethiopia (804.31)

Ethiopia launched a salt iodization program in 2011. The objective of this study was to evaluate the concentration of iodine in salt 2 years after the national proclamation that all salt for human consumption should be iodized. Salt samples were collected from 193 randomly selected households in Sidama zone, southern Ethiopia. The study participants were from farming communities where more than two-thirds of the families were subsistence farmers. Iodine concentration of salt was analyzed using a portable digital electronic iodine checker (WYD, UNICEF) and by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). Correlation between the analyses was 0.69 (p 15 ppm. Salt samples from 10 retail shops and open markets had a me...