Iodine Deficiency Campaign - Romania

This campaign addresses the primary barrier against iodised salt use - lack of knowledge. PSI/Romania research indicates that many Romanians are uninformed or misinformed about the seriousness of IDD and the benefits of iodised salt. To create awareness and promote behaviour change, television, radio, and billboard ads feature lively animated sheep. The "smart" sheep families use iodised salt; other sheep families who don't use iodised salt are shown doing silly and foolish things. The campaign's overall message is: Don't be like sheep and do what everybody does; be smart, use iodised salt. Campaign posters show sheep being rained on, with only one sheep protected from the rain by an umbrella. The header asks, "Why are some better able to stand apart from the flock?" The footer answers, "Iodized salt." Another poster shows sheep sweating profusely under a scorching sun, with only one sheep staying cool with the use of a fan. The header and footer show the same message, "Some are better able to stand apart from the rest because they use iodized salt."

The campaign also uses promotional strategies that stimulate greater supply and distribution of iodised salt through the private sector. Field agents educate shop owners and salt producers and distributors; the idea is to create product "push" from the private sector to address the "pull" of informed customer demand that is hopefully strengthened through the media campaign. The underlying strategy here involves creating a self-reinforcing cycle: the media campaign increases knowledge of the risks of IDD, helps consumers identify iodised salt easily, gets consumers to associate iodised salt and its benefits, and motivates the salt trade and other collaborators to be more proactive in making iodised salt available to consumers.

Children, Health, Nutrition.

IDDs are the single largest cause of preventable brain damage and mental retardation worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Romania has a mild IDD problem, but there are regions within the country where IDD is endemic. This campaign is based on qualitative and quantitative research on salt use completed by PSI in July 2002. UNICEF and Kiwanis International funded the research, which found that 53% of Romanian households have iodised salt, with rates as low as 30% in the northeast region and 42% in the southeast region. Nearly 47% of households were found to be at high risk of moderate-to-severe IDD because they only consume non-iodised salt. Awareness of the risks of iodine deficiency disorder was found to be very low and knowledge of the benefits of iodised salt even lower.

Being an essential micronutrient, iodine is required for normal human development from conception through adulthood and is critical during periods of rapid growth. The nature of IDD puts several population groups at risk: infants, children, and women of childbearing age whose iodine status affects fetal development. Iodine is essential for proper fetal and newborn brain development, and a severe lack of iodine can result in congenital hypothyroidism or even fetal death. On average, iodine deficiency results in a loss of 13 intelligence quotient points in adults (Appleton and Lange, 1999).