Diarrhea Second Greatest Child Killer: Report
Diarrhea Kills More Children than AIDS, Malaria and Measles Combined
© Yahan Wu
Oct 17, 2009
Only 39 percent of children in developing countries with diarrhoea receive the recommended treatment, according to the report Diarrhoea: Why Children Are Still Dying and What Can Be Done, October 14, 2009, released by UNICEF and the World Health Organization (WHO).The report includes information on the causes of diarrhoea, data on access to means of prevention and treatment, and a seven-point plan to reduce diarrhoea deaths.
Diarrhea Treatment
Diarrhoea is a common symptom of gastrointestinal infection which can have a variety of sources. However, just a few are responsible for most acute cases, one being rotavirus, which is responsible for more than 40 percent of all diarrhoea-related hospital admissions of children under five. A new vaccine for rotavirus has been found to be safe and effective but is still largely unavailable in most developing countries.
Although most childhood diarrhoea cases are mild, serious bouts can lead to much fluid loss and dehydration, which can lead to death unless fluids are quickly replaced. Oral rehydration therapy is considered the most efficient of fluid replacement and the new low-osmolarity formula of oral rehydration salts (ORS) is a simple, inexpensive and life-saving remedy that prevents dehydration in children with diarrhoea.
Clean Water, Good Hygiene Practices Needed
Together, pneumonia and diarrhoea account for an estimated 40 percent of all child deaths around the world each year. Nearly one in five child deaths is due to diarrhoea, adding up to a loss of about 1.5 million lives each year. Africa and South Asia are home to more than 80 percent of child deaths due to diarrhoea and just 15 countries account for almost three quarters of all deaths annually from diarrhoea among children under five years old.
An estimated 88 percent of diarrhoeal deaths worldwide are attributable to unclean water, poor sanitation and hygiene. As of 2006, an estimated 2.5 billion people around the world were not using adequate sanitation facilities, and about 1 in 4 people in developing countries practiced open defecation.
Preventing childhood diarrhoea can easily be achieved with access to clean water and good hygiene practices. Hand washing with soap has been shown to reduce diarrhoeal disease by over 40 percent, making it one of the most cost-effective interventions for reducing child deaths caused by infections.
Children’s overall health and nutrition is also paramount to their susceptibility to diarrhoea and the damage it can cause. The seven point plan to save the lives of children with diarrhoea includes two treatment and five prevention elements.
Diarrhoea Prevention
The two treatment elements are fluid replacement to prevent dehydration and zinc treatments, which decrease the severity and duration of the attack. The five prevention elements include immunization against rotavirus and measles, early and exclusive breastfeeding and vitamin A supplementation, handwashing with soap; improved water supply quantity and quality; and promoting community-wide sanitation.
Campaigns targeting childhood diarrhoea in the 1970s and 1980s were successful by educating caregivers and increasing oral rehydration therapy. The campaigns had promising results but focus shifted to other health problems after that success. There is now a need to shift attention and resources back to treating and preventing diarrhoea, the report stated.
Source:
The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF)/World Health Organization (WHO), Diarrhoea - Why children are still dying and what can be done, October 14, 2009.
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