About us
An awareness and education campaign
The MotherBabyIodine project aims to bring attention to the importance of iodine for health, and the extent and consequences of Iodine Deficiency Disorders (IDD) in pregnant women and women of childbearing age (12-50) that continue to affect both developed economies and countries in development.
The project took the initiative to launch a multi-stakeholder campaign to increase awareness about the risks, causes, and consequences of iodine deficiency among the general public, first in Indonesia and subsequently, throughout the world.
There is little awareness about the importance of iodine for human consumption not only among the general public but also among healthcare professionals and policymakers. There is also a trend of changing diets, reducing the consumption of dairy products, and replacing cow’s milk with plant-based drinks, often not fortified with iodine. These factors may lead to a resurgence of iodine deficiency.
Iodine deficiency during pregnancy results in adverse health effects not only for the mother but more so for the child during its first 1000 days of life beginning from conception. The mother with severe IDD may give birth to a child threatened with cretinism and growth retardation. Even mild iodine deficiency can cause a significant loss of up to 5-15 IQ points.
Universal salt iodization (USI) is the major strategy for supplementation of iodine and is highly recommended for women living in iodine-deficient countries who are planning pregnancy and throughout its various stages and even beyond lactation.
We work to build a coalition of cross-sectored, like-minded stakeholders involved in raising awareness to minimize iodine deficiency in women of childbearing age. We aim to involve international organizations, industry representatives (salt, food, and feed), healthcare professionals (endocrine, obstetrics, pediatric societies), patient organizations, ministries of health, and policymakers. Our objective is to set a path for these opinion leaders to help increase awareness of the importance of iodine for health.
We work together with stakeholders to increase awareness of the importance of iodine for health and highlight the risks and consequences of iodine deficiency before and during pregnancy and the lactation period. We aim to encourage governments to create policies and take steps that will help eliminate iodine deficiency worldwide.
