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 the first 1000 days of life beginning from conception. A mother with severe IDD may give birth to a child threatened with cretinism and growth retardation. Even mild iodine deficiency can cause a significant reduction in the child’ s IQ.
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.
Our objective is to build a coalition of cross-sectored, like-minded stakeholders involved in raising awareness of the importance of iodine for health among women with the mission to tackle iodine deficiency before, during pregnancy and in the lactation period. 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. We work to encourage governments to create policies and take steps that will help eliminate iodine deficiency worldwide.