(Not-so) radical giving, day 9: Iodine Global Network

In the 1920s, in Michigan, goiters (think giant swollen lumps protruding from your neck) were so common, the area was called “a goiter belt.” But Dr. David Murray Cowie realized that the goiters were likely cause by iodine deficiency, and he lobbied salt producers to use a Swiss method of adding potassium iodide or sodium iodide to table salt. With this change, the number of people afflicted by goiters dropped by 90%. And goiters are just the most visible part of iodine deficiency: lack of iodine can also lead to serious brain development problems in children. So iodization = a big win! Hurray for science!
Except, of course, it wasn’t a big win for everyone. Almost one hundred years later, there are still tens of millions of people without access to iodized salt. One estimate has 35 million babies born each year without sufficient iodine: 18 million of them likely end up mentally impaired.
Iodization is incredibly cheap, costing about $0.02 to $0.05 per person, per year. Thus it’s also a huge opportunity to make an impact: the Copenhagen Consensus (which set priorities on global challenges) identified salt iodization as a top investment in international development, and the World Bank estimates that every $1 spent on iodization could lead to $81 in economic productivity.
The Iodine Global Network both works in afflicted areas and collaborates with other food fortification providers, governments, salt producers, and scientific researchers. They are a GiveWell standout charity.
Though you might not have even been aware of iodine deficiency, what’s exciting its that it’s as an entirely solvable problem: in fact, the ICN has committed to eliminating iodine deficiency by 2020. Amazingly, my $20 will mean 1500 people can be protected from iodine deficiency. (As a Canadian, I’ve donated through Canada Helps.) So how did it feel to part with this money? It’s not every day you can say you’ve helped 1500 people, so I have to say pretty damn good.
