Science Magazine published an article focused on the studies underway to test the viability of salt fortification with folic acid in Ethiopia. Salt fortification is a promising and cost effective solution to reduce 44,000+ pregnancies impacted by neural tube defects each year in Ethiopia.
Excerpt from the article
“These numbers from Ethiopia are some of the worst anywhere and ever,” says Marinus Koning, a retired surgeon who is founder of the ReachAnother Foundation, a charity based in Bend, Oregon, that has supported the training of dozens of Ethiopian neurosurgeons. “Something needs to be done about it.”
At the invitation of the Ethiopian Ministry of Health, Koning and scientists from the United States, Canada, and the Netherlands began to work with experts at the Ethiopian Public Health Institute (EPHI) in Addis Ababa to develop a plan to address NTDs. The result was an issue brief released by EPHI in May that recommended the government consider salt fortification.
