NEW YORK (Pacnews) — A new formula for oral rehydration salts is promising to dramatically reduce child deaths from diarrhea, the World Health Organization announced Thursday.
Diarrhea is still a problem in a number of Pacific countries, particularly in the Micronesian islands like Kiribati and Marshall Islands, where sanitation is often poor.
The WHO-adopted rehydration salts was used to fight diarrhea death in 1978, with the result that millions of children under five were saved from death.
Deaths from diarrhea have been reduced worldwide by half in just 10 years, an achievement Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland, executive director of the WHO, called “one of the great public health success stories of our time.” But while the treatment is very cheap, it is often unavailable and the problem remains.
