Iodine screening campaign targeting school children from 6 to 12 years old

Damascus-SANA

Iodine is an important component in the production of thyroid hormone, which is necessary for the functioning of the thyroid gland for children's growth, physical and mental development, and in early childhood.

Iodine deficiency causes a delay in brain development, a decline in mental faculties, and at school age, it impairs the ability to learn and leads to growth failure, according to the head of the Nutritional Surveillance Department at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Hala Daoud.

In this context, the campaign launched today by the Ministry of Health, the Directorate of Primary Health Care, in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, the Directorate of School Health, to conduct an iodine survey for school children from 6 to 12 years old, and continues until the 30th of this month.

In a statement to SANA, Dr. Daoud indicated that iodine deficiency during pregnancy leads to birth defects and deformities in the fetus, while in adults it leads to hypothyroidism, “hypothyroidism,” pointing out that the daily need for an individual of iodine ranges between 120 and 150 micrograms in a way. General 50 micrograms for children in their first year.. For pregnant women and premature infants, between 200 and 250 micrograms.

Dr. Daoud explained that 266 schools were randomly selected by the Central Bureau of Statistics distributed between rural and urban areas in 14 governorates, and 20 children will be randomly selected from each school as well, noting that participation is voluntary and parents’ approval is obtained for their children to participate in the study, where test samples will be collected from them In addition to conducting an analysis of a sample of table salt that the child brings from home.

According to Dr. Daoud, the purpose of the survey is mainly to use its results in nutritional studies and to secure an adequate supply of iodine for children and all members of society, pointing out that there are 3 health teams in each governorate, each of which includes 4 health components from the health and school health directorates, in addition to nutrition coordinators and heads of departments Software.

This survey comes within the cooperation plan between the Ministries of Health and Education, the Central Bureau of Statistics and the United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF), especially since before the war, Syria was able to achieve advanced indicators at the level of the Eastern Mediterranean region in terms of families' use of iodized salt.

Rama Rashidi