Every year internationally, 1.5 million children die from diarrheal dehydration. That’s more children dying than the total number of Canadian children under 5 years old. What’s truly tragic is how preventable these deaths really are. In studying today, I ran across a set of guidelines published by the WHO for case management of diarrhea:
- Prevent dehydration by educating parents on how to treat diarrhea at home (fluids, and good nutrition)
- When dehydration occurs, treat with oral rehydration solution.
- Feed appropriately both during and after diarrhea.
- Provide antibiotics for suspected cholera, shigella dysentary, or typhoid fever.
It has been estimated that these four guidelines could prevent 90% of deaths from diarrhea dehydration. That’s 1.35 million children. So simple (no special training required for the first three guidelines, and the fourth can be performed by just about any healthcare worker), yet the barriers are numerous. Some obvious barriers are the lack of access to clean water for rehydration and inability to pay for good nutrition.
In the village we recommended a sugar salt solution (Recipe in Where There is No Doctor)although the remedy didn’t satisfy worried mothers. They always wanted medicine. I remember having more success with shiny foil ORS packages, because they looked more “medicinal”. When simple rehydration is enough, ironically, the greatest barrier is just that – it seems too simple.
Comment by Mom — April 28, 2009 @ 12:12 pm