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With more resources and effective implementation of available health, water and sanitation solutions, we can save millions of children right now.
That diarrhoea remains a leading cause of death among children around the world exemplifies the urgency of reinvigorating efforts to improve child
health and human development.
PATH and the US Coalition for Child Survival are partnering on a Call to Action urging international donors and policymakers, the private sector, and
national leaders to invest more funding and political will in solutions to mitigate deaths and illnesses from diarrhoeal disease. Support from the
health, water and sanitation, development, and environmental sectors underscores that success will take a coordinated and cross-sectoral effort
across these disciplines. more >>
Diarrheal disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer |
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Diarrhoea causes dehydration.
Children are more likely than adults to die from diarrhoea because they
become dehydrated more quickly. Diarrhoea is also a major cause of child malnutrition.
2.2 million people in developing countries, most of them children, die every year from diseases associated with lack of access to safe
drinking water, inadequate sanitation, poor hygiene and overcrowding. 90% are children under 5, mostly in developing countries. Undernutrition
is the underlying cause of a substantial proportion of all child deaths. Infants who are fed only breastmilk during the first 6 months seldom get
diarrhoea. At six months, in addition to breastmilk, complementary foods with increased feeding frequency and changes in food consistency,
quantity, and diversity as the child ages.
Thousands of deaths could be averted through a combined prevention and treatment strategy — interventions such as improved mother and child
nutrition, optimal breastfeeding
practices; Oral Rehydration Therapy [ORT]; new
low-osmolarity formulations of ORS; incorporating rotavirus vaccines;
zinc
supplementation during diarrhoea episodes; immunizing all children against measles; appropriate drug therapy; increased access to
safe clean water and sanitation facilities and improved
personal and domestic
hygiene, including keeping food and water clean and washing hands before touching food.
Families and communities are working together, with support from governments,
states, corporations and non-governmental organizations, to prevent the
conditions that cause diarrhoea and thereby rapidly reducing child mortality. |
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On this site:
Clear, practical advice on preventing and treating diarrhoeal diseases. Guidelines from medical authorities on diagnosis, treatment,
symptoms, causes and risk factors, tests, training tips, feedback from the field, alternative medicine and much more for patients and health professionals. |
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Key facts
- The proportion of under-nourished children under five years of age declined from 27% in 1990 to 20% in 2005.
- Some 27% fewer children died before their fifth birthday in 2007 than in 1990.
- Maternal mortality has barely changed since 1990.
- One third of 9.7 million people in developing countries who need treatment for HIV/AIDS were receiving it in 2007.
- MDG target for reducing the incidence of tuberculosis was met globally in 2004.
- 27 countries reported a reduction of up to 50% in the number of malaria cases between 1990 and 2006.
- The number of people with access to safe drinking-water rose from 4.1 billion in 1990 to 5.7 billion in 2006. About 1.1 billion people in developing regions gained access to improved sanitation in the same period.
Read the full Fact Sheet >>
Related links:
World Health Statistics 2009
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Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) |
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HETV works within the existing health framework of developing countries to establish and promote health educational programs that will provide rapid
and long-term capacity-building to improve health and quality of life, and will give mothers and communities more control over their health status.
Partnered with national and state governments, we work to assist in educating mothers and children, teachers and students, doctors and village
health workers, and a variety of community leaders, in the targeted areas of health, water, hygiene, and sanitation.
Maharashtra Plan 2005-2010 |
Programmes |
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Video |
10 Steps to Successful Breastfeeding |
Scientific Overview |
Recommendations & Vision |
Reviews
UNICEF, WHO and WABA along with the scientific community strongly recommend initiating breastfeeding within half an hour of birth.
Evidence shows that early initiation can prevent 22% of all deaths among babies below one month in developing countries. Every newborn, when
placed on the mother’s abdomen, has ability to find its mother’s breast all on its own and to decide when to take the first breastfeed. This is
known as the ‘Breast Crawl’. [more] |
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Mother, Infant and Young Child Nutrition & Malnutrition
The fight against persistent underweight, stunting and wasting among children in developing countries is based on appropriate
maternal, infant and young child feeding practices including micronutrient deficiencies prevention and control. However, wasted
children are those at immediate risk of dying and will need timely detection and correct management for their survival.
More than half of all child deaths are associated with malnutrition, which weakens the body's resistance to illness. Poor diet,
frequent illness, and inadequate or inattentive care of young children can lead to malnutrition. Of the 6.6 million deaths among children aged 28 days to five years:
1.7 million (26%) are caused by diarrhoea. 1 million (61%) of these deaths are due to the presence of undernutrition.
What is needed: Enough food and the right kinds of food, Nutritional needs of girls and women, Nutritional needs of young children,
Protecting children from infections, Quality care when children fall ill, prevention of Micronutrient deficiencies. |
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TIME Europe
16 October 2006 |
Diarrhea kills more young children around the world than malaria, AIDS and TB combined. Yet a simple and
inexpensive treatment can prevent many of those deaths. Why isn't it more widely used?
A Simple Solution
In the West, it's an inconvenience, but, in the developing world, it can be a death sentence. It kills millions of children every
year, yet the treatment is a simple mixture of salt, sugar and water. So why isn't more being done to fight diarrhea?
Surviving Diarrhea
Most deaths from diarrhea can be prevented by giving the victim oral rehydration. A guide to how it works |
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Prevent and Treat |
Treatment Plans
Dehydration caused by diarrhoea is one of the biggest single killers of children in the modern world and diarrhoea itself is one of the major causes of nutritional loss and poor growth.
[more] |
"The discovery that sodium transport and glucose transport are coupled in
the small intestine so that glucose accelerates absorption of solute and water (is) potentially
the most important medical advance this century."
The Lancet - British Scientific Journal - 5th August, 1978 [more] |
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Home
Made | Packaged
Most often, diarrhoea kills a child by dehydration, which means that too much liquid has been drained out of the child's body. To replace the
liquid being lost it is essential to give the child extra drinks as soon as diarrhoea starts.
Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) is the
cheap, simple and effective way to treat dehydration caused by diarrhoea.
[more] |
Facts |
Frequently Asked Questions |
HIV
During the first 6 months of life, infants should be exclusively breastfed. This means that the healthy baby should receive breastmilk and
no other fluids, such as water, teas, juice, cereal drinks, animal milk or formula. Exclusively breastfed babies are much less likely to get
diarrhoea or to die from it than are babies who are not breastfed or are partially breastfed. [more] |
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Q & A |
Technical FAQs
Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) has been the cornerstone of diarrheal disease control since 1970s. Recently, the ORS formulation was
revised by reducing the sodium and glucose content. This new, low-osmolarity ORS, improves the efficacy of ORS, reduces the need for unscheduled
intravenous infusions, lowers stool volume, and causes less vomiting compared with standard ORS.
[more] |
ORS and Zinc: Treatment of diarrhoea is now more effective
Recent studies suggest that a 10- to 14-day therapy of zinc treatment can considerably reduce the duration and severity of diarrhoeal episodes,
decrease stool output, and lessen the need for hospitalization. Zinc may
also prevent future diarrhea episodes for up to three months. [more] |
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Key Facts
Worldwide, almost every child will have at least one rotavirus infection before he or she is five years old. The virus is so
contagious and resilient that providing clean water and promoting proper hygiene do not significantly reduce incidence, which is nearly the same in
industrialized and developing countries. Additionally, because rotavirus
usually causes profuse vomiting, ORS/ORT is difficult to administer. [more]
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Providing clean water for drinking and food preparation, teaching children
and adults to wash their hands properly are some of the most important things governments and families can
do to protect health. These proven interventions have already made a world
of difference for millions and millions of people. [more] |
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The scientific rationale for ORT, and for continued feeding during
diarrhoea, has been established beyond doubt. The challenge now is to place that knowledge in the hands of parents so
that they themselves can protect their children against the dehydration and malnutrition caused by childhood's most common disease. |
Slide Shows
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A Simple Solution
A Programme to curb the effects of diarrhoea / diarrhea in infants and young children
198 slides |
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Facts for Life
What every family and community has a right to know about
Diarrhoea,
Timing Births,
Safe Motherhood,
Child Development and Early Learning,
Breastfeeding,
Nutrition and Growth,
Immunization,
Coughs, Colds and More Serious Illnesses,
Hygiene,
Malaria,
HIV/AIDS,
Injury Prevention,
Disasters and Emergencies |
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Acute Diarrhoeal Diseases
Clinical Features and Management
36 slides |
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Water Facts
Waterborne diseases (the consequence of a combination of lack of clean water supply and inadequate sanitation) cost the Indian economy 73 million working days a year. |
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Facts About Children, Diarrhoea, Water, Women, Hunger ... |
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A Kind of Living
Life of a young boy, Babu, in a city
78 slides |
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Frequently Asked Questions
Some of the more commonly asked questions about Diarrhoea, Dehydration, Oral Rehydration Salts - Home Prepared and Packets, and Oral Rehydration Therapy. |
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All information on Rehydration Project's web site is for educational purposes only.
For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, kindly consult your doctor. |
photos:
UNICEF, India |
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Health Education to Villages
Initiation
of Breastfeeding by Breast Crawl
Dehydration
Rehydration
Oral Rehydration Solutions
Breastfeeding
Low-Osmolarity ORS
Zinc Supplementation
Rotavirus Disease & Vaccines
Hygiene, Hand-washing and Clean Water
Health Professionals
