[Surveillance on iodized salt in China, in 2006].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the national situation of quality and consumption of iodized salt at production and household levels. METHODS: Detailed surveillance method could be found in 'national iodized salt surveillance scheme', issued by MOH in 2004. The iodine concentrations in salt (except some special kinds of salt) were detected by direct titration with national standard of GB/T 13025.7-1999, in which the iodine content in qualified iodized salt was set as between 20 and 50 mg/kg and that in non-iodized salt was set as below 5 mg/kg. RESULTS: At production level, the national lot qualified rate was 98.36% and all the provincial lot qualified rate of production level was over 90%. At household level, the national iodized salt coverage rate of household was 96.87% and the national qualified iodized salt coverage rate was 93.75%. 4 provinces (Tibet, Hainan, Xinjiang and Guangdong) had an iodized salt coverage rate lower than 90%. Further, the qualified iodized salt coverage rate of 5 provinces (Tibet, Hainan, Xinjiang, Guangdong and Qinghai) was below 90%. In 2006,80 counties did not conduct the iodized salt surveillance and non-iodized salt coverage rate of 185 counties was higher than 10%. In the respect of the qualified iodized salt coverage rate at household level, there were about 10 percent lagging behind the national goal that 95% of all the counties in China should achieve virtual elimination of iodine deficiency disorder before 2010. CONCLUSION: At national level,the lot qualified rate at production level and the iodized salt coverage rate at household level maintained comparatively well. However, at county level, there were 75 counties whose iodized salt coverage rate was below 70%.

[A pilot study on the feasibility of simplified scheme of national iodized salt monitoring program].

OBJECTIVE: To draft out the simplified scheme of iodized salt monitoring program to compare with the current scheme, and to study its feasibility. METHODS: 8 counties from 4 provinces were selected at different coverage rate of iodized salt. Conduct the monitoring program using the current scheme and the simplified scheme, then compare the results. RESULTS: The monitoring results of the current scheme showed the coverage rate of iodized salt and adequate iodized salt were 88.1% and 84.8% and the data of the simplified scheme were 85.2% and 79.8% respectively. Five counties reached above 90% of both the coverage rates of iodized salt and adequate iodized salt and the results showed no significant difference between the two schemes. The rates of other three counties were low, and the difference was significant between Dulan and Linxia counties. To the whole samples, the difference was also significant. CONCLUSION: The simplified scheme could be applied to those that the coverage rate of iodized salt was quite high or the non-iodized salt was well-distrbuted. However, for those areas with low coverage rate, it might not be suitable. As for the whole nation, it might not be popularized due to the gap of coverage rate between western and eastern areas.

[Study on the national program of monltoring the iodized-salt situation in 2004].

OBJECTIVE: To understand the situation of quality and consumption of iodized-salt at production and household levels through monitoring on salt. METHODS: 9 townships were chosen in each county at different locations. In each township, two villages were selected in the center of the township and another two villages in remote settings. In each village, 8 households were selected for salt collection. The iodine concentrations in salt (except some special kinds of salt) were detected by method of direct titration with criteria in GB/T 13025.7-1999, in which the iodine content in qualified iodized-salt was set as 20 to 50 mg/kg and that in non-iodized-salt it was below 5 mg/kg. RESULTS: Except for Tibet and Xinjiang, lot qualified rate of production level was 97.39% at the national level. Except for Xinjiang, the qualified rate of iodized-salt of household level was 96.45%; qualified iodized-salt coverage rate was 93.47%; noniodized-salt coverage rate was 3.09%. The results of the iodized-salt monitoring in 2004 maintained almost the same level as that in 2002. At production level,lot qualified rate of iodized-salt in Sichuan and Qinghai provinces were below 90%. At household level the qualified rate of iodized-salt in Sichuan and Hainan were below 90%. The coverage rates of qualified iodized-salt were below 90% for the total 7 provinces. In 5 provinces, the non-iodized-salt coverage rates were above 10%. CONCLUSIONS: At national level the qualification of iodized-salt at production level was satisfactory. The coverage rates of qualified iodized-salt were below 90% not only in western but in some eastern provinces(including Beijing), which indicated that importance should be attached to the western areas and some newly discovered areas with problems as well. Through continual improvement of qualified iodized-salt coverage, sustained IDD elimination will be achieved.