The content below is not actively maintained and may be out of date. We last updated the content below in 2009.

Note: ICCIDD is a registered charity in Canada but not in the United States.

We investigated the International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) because it works to eliminate iodine deficiencies, including increasing access to iodized salt,1 a proven, cost-effective method of changing lives in the developing world.2

We reviewed materials on ICCIDD's website and spoke with David Haxton, ICCIDD's Executive Director, over the phone. Mr. Haxton explained that ICCIDD is a network of volunteers who primarily (a) contact government officials to encourage them to implement salt iodization programs and (b) consult to governments who need assistance in program implementation.3

After that conversation and reviewing additional materials sent to us by Mr. Haxton, we remain unsure of what impact additional funds would have on ICCIDD's likely ability to increase salt iodization rates.

Sources

• Haxton, David. ICCIDD Executive Director. Phone conversation with GiveWell, April 27, 2009.
• Horton, Sue, Harold Alderman and Juan A. Rivera. Copenhagen Consensus 2008 challenge paper: Hunger and malnutrition (PDF).
• ICCIDD. About us. http://www.iccidd.org/pages/about-us.php (accessed April 22, 2010). Archived by WebCite® at http://www.webcitation.org/5pBLiMNSO.
• ICCIDD. Audited Financial Statements (2008) (TIF).
• ICCIDD. Current ICCIDD activities (DOC).
• ICCIDD. Global Scorecard for iodization (2009) (PDF).
• ICCIDD. Homepage. http://www.iccidd.org/ (accessed April 22, 2010).
• ICCIDD. IDD Newsletter. http://www.iccidd.org/pages/idd-newsletter.php (accessed April 22, 2010). Archived by WebCite® at http://www.iccidd.org/pages/idd-newsletter.php.
• ICCIDD. Milestones in salt iodization (DOC).
• ICCIDD. Overview of ICCIDD (DOC).
• ICCIDD. Strategic plan (2008) (DOC).

• 1.

  "The International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (ICCIDD) is the only international organization specifically constituted to promote optimal iodine nutrition and the elimination of iodine deficiency disorders (IDD). ICCIDD's multidisciplinary global network consists of over 600 specialists from more than 100 countries. They include scientists in the medical and nutrition fields, public health workers, development managers, technologists, communicators, economists, salt producers, other industry experts, and many others involved in fields related to iodine nutrition." International Council for the Control of Iodine Deficiency Disorders, "About Us."

• 2.
  • "Salt iodization, costing around $0.05/person per year and averting significant cognitive losses, with a benefit:cost ratio of the order of 30:1, remains a key priority (recalculated as incidence based, from Horton, 2006); no additional discussion is needed to reiterate the estimates of benefits and cost already available." Horton, Alderman, and Rivera 2008, Pg 7.
  • "Prior to widespread salt iodization in the developing world, an estimated 633 million individuals suffered from goiter (World Health Organization, 2003): currently 31% of developing-world households still do not consume iodized salt and are therefore not protected (UNICEF 2006). The lagging countries are in sub- Saharan Africa, South Asia and Central and Eastern Europe/Commonwealth of Independent States." Horton, Alderman, and Rivera 2008, Pg 3.
• 3.

  David Haxton, phone conversation with GiveWell, April 27, 2009.