Assessment of the Current Status of Iodine Prophylaxis in Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation

Abstract

Assessment of the status of iodine prophylaxis was studied in 5,523 schoolchildren randomly selected in all cantons in Bosnia and Herzegovina Federation (BHF). According to the iodine content of household salt samples, all cantons of BHF were divided into two groups: Group A: 95.5% of the salt used is produced in the Tuzla plant, in which the salt is iodized at 5-15 mg Kl/kg salt, and 4.5% of the salt used is produced in the Pag plant, in which the salt is iodized at 20-30 mg Kl/kg of salt, and Group B: 19.9% of the salt used is produced in the Tuzla plant and 80.1% in the Pag plant. In Group A the amount of iodine in salt was significantly lower than in Group B (11.4 mg/kg vs 18.9 mg/kg, P <0.001). In Group A the prevalence of goiter was significantly higher than in Group B (32.6% vs 19.7%, P <0.001). The highest prevalence of goiter was in Bosnian Podrinje Canton (51.2%) and Central Bosnian Canton (42.6%) while the lowest was in West Herzegovina Canton (12.9%). Significantly higher concentrations of urinary iodine were found in Group B than in Group A (82.6 μg/1 vs 75.2 μg/1, P <0.001). In Group A the percentage of urine samples below 50 μg/1 iodine was significantly higher than in Group B (35.6% vs 26.9%, P <0.001), but there was no difference in the percentage of urine samples with iodine values less than 100 μg/1 (70.7 μg/1 vs 68.25 μg/1, P >0.05). We conclude that FBH is an iodine deficient area and that the improvement of iodine prophylaxis is urgently required, primarily by increasing salt iodine content to 20-30 mg/kg, in order to eradicate endemic goiter.

Iodine Nutrition Status of Pregnant Women in an Iodine-Sufficient Area

“…In Bosnia and Herzegovina, the first law requiring an obligatory iodization of all salt for human and animal consumption with 3.75 to 11.25 mg of iodide as potassium iodide (KI) per kilogram of sodium chloride was proclaimed in 1953 [5]. Later studies showed evidence of iodine deficiency [5][6][7].…”

Higher Frequency of Screening TSH Above 5 mlU/l in Infants Likely Exposed to Higher Doses of Iodine-containing Skin Antiseptic: Implications for Assessment of Iodine Sufficiency

“…has been identified as an VOLUME iodine-deficient area and it was concluded that the preventive measures taken so far were not sufficient to correct the iodine deficiency in the population 6 . has been identified as an VOLUME iodine-deficient area and it was concluded that the preventive measures taken so far were not sufficient to correct the iodine deficiency in the population 6 .…”

Seasonal and regional variations of the iodine content in milk from Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina

“…Iodine deficiency has been eradicated in the country since 1953, when fortifying table salt with 3.75-11.25 mg of iodide as potassium iodide per kg of sodium chloride started (Tahirovic et al, 2001). Nevertheless, some later studies showed an evidence of iodine deficiency (Filipovic and Siljak, 1974;Tahirovic et al, 2001) why health officials wanted to increase the iodine content of salt, as well as to activate health control programmes focusing on iodine status of schoolchildren (Tahirovic et al, 2001). On 25 th October 2001, Federation of B&H government promulgated the new Regulations on Edible Salt Quality which requires iodization of salt with 20-30 mg of iodine per kg of salt (Anonymous, 2001).…”

“…Although some important investigations on iodine status in human population, especially children, have been done in the past (Filipovic and Siljak, 1974;Tahirovic et al, 2001; Toromanovic and Tahirovic, 2004), data on the iodine nutrition of humans and animals in B&H are still very scarce. The relative contribution of different foods in the diet to the total daily intake of iodine is not known, except for table salt, because the iodine concentration in foods, including milk, or feeds has never been investigated.…”