Émigrés Remittance for NTD MDA and Iodine Deficiency Elimination

Gilbert Saint Jean of the University of Notre Dame in the U.S. will promote the consumption of salt fortified with both iodine, which is essential for child and maternal health, and the drug DEC, which is used to treat the parasitic disease lymphatic filariasis, in Haiti. Haitian emigrants residing in the U.S. frequently purchase food vouchers via money transfer company websites for their families in Haiti. The researchers will partner with food remittance companies to build on this system and offer vouchers for their tested DEC-iodized cooking salt. They will pilot test the approach in Florida by educating a group of emigrants on the health benefits of the salt, and evaluate uptake and the effect on iodine levels and disease incidence in their families back in Haiti.