What your support means to us

When Giving Tuesday comes around, our thoughts at IGN always turn to what we’ve achieved with your support over the past year.

Your support enables IGN to catalyze positive change and address critical issues on a global scale. It is through the generosity and commitment of donors that IGN can conduct research, implement interventions, and advocate for policy changes to address iodine deficiency. Our donors empower us to be agile, proactive, and effective in our mission, fostering a collective effort to create a healthier and more equitable world.

We’d like to share some examples of where we made a difference this year, thanks to you.

• A national survey in Sri Lanka showed a marked decrease in iodine intake since 2016, and the population is now deficient. While piloting a sentinel tool to assess coverage of iodized salt and population iodine status, we discovered that a narrow production standard for salt iodization – with high penalties for producers who are over-iodizing – was causing them to reduce the levels of iodine they added to salt.  The government have revised production standards to ensure better iodization levels.  Our work led to action that is improving iodine status in Sri Lanka’s 22 million population, and the sentinel system is now in place.
• The Artyomsol Salt Mines in Donetsk, Ukraine covered 95% of Ukraine’s salt needs and exported to 16 other countries, including Moldova. The war has disrupted the transportation of iodized salt, and Moldovan salt importers were left negotiating with Romanian and Turkish producers to make up for the losses. Prices rose steeply, and the progress made in salt iodization was in danger of being lost. IGN RC Gregory Gerasimov and Moldovan National Coordinator Lillia Turcan’s advocacy and technical support to government (in assessing appropriate levels of fortification) led to the adoption of a new regulation that requires iodized salt to be used in bakery products and public catering, giving broad access to iodine nutrition to Moldova’s 2.6 million population. IGN continues to work to understand how the war is impacting iodine nutrition in other countries in the region.
• IGN has been working to understand the production situation and challenges facing small producers of iodized salt in the Andean area, which accounts for about a third of the nation’s land area, and is home to the unique Uyuni salt flats, the largest in the world. The Bolivian Government asked IGN to provide technical assistance to small producers, as well as training personnel at the Ministry of Health to externally monitor the iodization levels of iodized salt.  A visit to several small production sites in Colchani identified an error in mixing the salt with the potassium iodate, and in measuring the iodate to be added, leading to low iodine levels in salt. Other production difficulties and accessibility issues were identified.  Workshops for both surveillance personnel and producers were conducted as a first step to addressing these issues, improving iodine nutrition for Andean populations.  
• In 2022 Afghan salt producers informed us that their supply of KIO3, the fortificant used to iodize salt, was running out, and IGN’s National Coordinator expressed his concern for yet another health risk for the Afghan people, as they would lack access to dietary iodine. IGN advocated with different organizations to see whether they would be willing to supply KIO3.  UNICEF agreed to providing a year’s supply of the fortificant which is now being used by producers.  IGN’s National Coordinator in Pakistan sourced rapid test kits, which IGN provided, and we coordinated with UNICEF and our National Coordinator on their use in Afghanistan. The test kits allow producers as well as health staff to check on iodization of salt. The partnership is having a direct impact on the prevention of iodine deficiency through restoring access to iodized salt to Afghanistan’s 40 million population.  Without IGN’s advocacy and intervention, this would not have taken place.

As you will see from these examples, IGN is the lead – and sometimes the only – organization advocating for adequate iodine nutrition in countries around the world and giving technical advice to ensure that programs are working and being monitored effectively.  In all of these cases, IGN’s work either identified problems or catalyzed action to solve them.  Your support enables and inspires us to do that, to the benefit of millions of people around the world.

Thank you.