Simple salts solution a major lifesaver

OPINION: A simple solution of salts is an inexpensive and life-saving remedy in developing nations, writes DENNIS McKINLAY.

Everyone knows they should wash their hands after using the toilet and before eating, but how do we do in practice? A group of New Zealand public health researchers decided to find out.

They stationed observers inside shopping mall toilets in Christchurch and three North Island cities. Equipped with stop watches and presumably clipboards, the observers were able to capture the exact habits of 1200 people.

About 13 per cent of people did not wash their hands at all, which the researchers found concerning. Of those who did wash, more than a quarter did not use soap and people devoted only about nine seconds to hand-washing, less than half the recommended time.

More recently, a University of Otago study involving 15,000 primary school pupils in 68 schools in Christchurch, Dunedin and Invercargill, has looked at the impact of improved hand hygiene on winter school absences. The data, collected last year, is being analysed, but it would be surprising indeed if hand- washing wasn't associated with better general health.

Lack of hand hygiene is often associated with diarrhoea. It's uncertain how many children in New Zealand experience this problem though, because cases are not recorded unless people are admitted to hospital.

Diarrhoea is an easily preventable and treatable disease. In the developed world it is often little more than a discomfort, but it can be a killer in the developing world. An estimated 1.5 million children under five die from diarrhoea each year, making it the second- largest killer of children behind pneumonia.

Diarrhoea is more prevalent and potentially deadly in the developing world due, in large part, to the lack of safe drinking water, sanitation and hygiene, as well as poorer overall health and nutritional status. Around 2.5 billion people lack adequate sanitation facilities and nearly one billion do not have access to safe drinking water. These unsanitary environments allow diarrhoea-causing pathogens to spread more easily.

Children who are affected by a conflict or natural disaster and have pre-existing poor nutritional status and overall health are more susceptible to severe diarrhoea and dehydration than healthy children. In addition, lack of adequate health services and transport in an emergency reduces the likelihood of prompt and appropriate treatment.

The good news is that mortality from diarrhoea has declined over the past 20 years from an estimated five million deaths among children under five to 1.5 million, with Africa and South Asia home to more than 80 per cent of fatalities. Health education programmes and the improvement of water and sanitation facilities, of the type supported by Unicef, can make a world of difference. Hand-washing with soap, for example, can reduce the incidence of diarrhoea by over 40 per cent. In emergency situations, however, when water and sanitation systems break down or in villages where clean water and good sanitation are still years away, diarrhoea continues to be a majorproblem.

A solution of oral rehydration salts (ORS) has been found to be a simple, inexpensive and life-saving remedy that prevents dehydration among children with diarrhoea. Both Unicef and the World Health Organisation recommend that all children with diarrhoea have access to this new ORS formula.

Unicef has taken a leading role in the provision of ORS both in emergencies and in the development context. Since 2000, for example, Unicef has procured more than 350 million packets of ORS and remains one of the largest international procurers today. At just 10 cents for a single sachet, ORS is not only an effective treatment, it is also cost effective. Millions of children's lives have been saved through its use, but we must keep up the fight against diarrhoea both in terms of treatment and improvement of basic water and sanitation infrastructure.

* Dennis McKinlay is the executive director of Unicef NZ, which is running an appeal to boost stocks of ORS and give training to health workers and parents on how and when ORS should be used. www.Unicef.org.nz

- © Fairfax NZ News

Newest First

Oldest First