Endemic goitre in Basutoland. Report on a survey.

Although it has long been known that endemic goitre exists in Basutoland, there was no clear information on its prevalence until a survey, reported on here, was conducted in 1957-58 by a nutrition survey team sent by the World Health Organization at the request of the Basutoland Government. Seven of the nine districts were covered by this survey, which revealed an average prevalence of endemic goitre (mainly diffuse) of 41%, with a range of from 30% to 50% according to the district. The problem is thus clearly a serious one, and the authors recommend the use of salt iodized at a level of 1 part of potassium iodate in 10 000-20 000 parts of salt.