Tracking the Progress towards Elimination of Iodine Deficiency Disorders in Al Haj Yousif Area Khartoum State

The major objective of this study has been to assess the iodine deficiency situation in Al Haj Yousif area - Al Khartoum State, Sudan, the study is designed to have precise epidemiological information of IDD. The indicators include goiter prevalence and urinary iodine excretion. A cross sectional community-based field study was conducted in five zones in Al Haj Yousif area using a multistage random sampling technique. The sample population was selected by house-to- house visit. One hundred households (of average members per house of 7+2) were selected, covering 300 children (age 6-12 years) as subjects for goiter examination, a sub sample of 50 children (16.7 %) were chosen at random for urinary iodine level assessment. The result of goiter examination revealed that the prevalence rate of goiter was (23.3 %) and it was significantly higher in females (26.71 %) than males (20.13 %). The median urinary iodine excretion (UIE) was 5.0 g/dl. In non-goitrous children the median UI was 6.4 g/dl, 3.8 g/dl and 2.35 g/dl for grade 1 and grade 2 goiter respectively. The major findings support that iodine deficiency is a public health problem among children aged 6-12 years in Al Haj Yousif area. The results of this study imply that, it is of major importance to improve the iodine situation in the whole area, and necessitate an intervention program in Al Haj Yousif area. This includes distribution of iodine capsules as a short term strategy and iodized salt as a long term strategy. The study suggests that significant work is needed towards achieving the goal of raising the IDD awareness as well as IDD elimination