OneWorld.net (U.S.)

WASHINGTON, May 14 (OneWorld.net) - Health experts are calling on the United States and other world powers to do more to prevent diarrheal disease, an easily preventable ailment that is one of the leading killers of children, and a growing global concern.

Diarrheal disease is both treatable and preventable, but "children are not receiving the simple and effective interventions they need," said health policy institute PATH in its new report "Diarrheal Disease: Solutions to Defeat a Global Killer."

© Global Health Council / George S. BlonksyDiarrheal disease kills some 5,000 children daily, and in some developing countries the severity of the disease is increasing, warn PATH and WaterAid, another humanitarian organization that published a separate report on the disease this week. "There are more lifesaving prevention and treatment solutions for diarrheal disease than any other major childhood killer," the groups noted in a joint statement.

Speaking here Tuesday, PATH and WaterAid officials emphasized the need for wealthier countries to support treatment and prevention measures in areas where the disease is most acute. The groups joined a diverse coalition of over 75 organizations in a "Call to Action," urging increased financial support, new research, and redoubling of the commitment to the UN Millennium Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.

Clean water and sanitation facilities could help prevent the deaths of millions of children from diarrheal diseases, which kill by severely dehydrating or causing dysentery. Good hygiene, breastfeeding, better nutrition, vaccines, and treatments with zinc and rehydration solutions are also key to saving lives, the groups said.

Success, Then Neglect

During the 1980s and 1990s the mortality rate of children dying of diarrheal diseases decreased by approximately 50 percent worldwide, thanks to effective treatments such as oral rehydration therapy (ORT). At the time diarrheal disease was considered a global priority.

"But over the last decade, momentum has slowed, with declines in research and funding commitments and competing global health priorities," noted the PATH report. Dr. John Wecker, a vaccine specialist at PATH, said the focus shifted because some believed the issue had essentially been solved, thanks to the reduction in mortality, so "the top killer of children ended up at the end of the agenda."

As financial support waned, Wecker explained, programs disappeared and, in Kenya, for example, many people could no longer access ORT treatments at the community level.

"While diarrheal disease is a global killer, today the burden is greatest in developing nations in Africa and Asia where access to clean water, sanitation, and urgent medical care may be limited," added Nancy Bwalya-Mukumbuta of WaterAid Zambia.

While previous efforts have focused solely on the treatment of diarrheal disease, PATH and WaterAid are suggesting a new approach that would not only support the implementation of health solutions such as ORT, zinc, the rotavirus vaccine, and breastfeeding education, but also allocate resources to projects that prevent diarrheal disease, such as building clean water supplies and simple sanitation latrines.

Prevention and treatment go hand in hand, said Bwalya-Mukumbuta, noting that the ORT powder used to treat the disease must be mixed in the clean, safe water that helps prevent it from occurring in the first place.

Andrew Barrer, executive director of the U.S. Coalition for Child Survival, agreed that a more comprehensive approach will be needed to undercut the disease worldwide, urging impacted countries to implement a "package of interventions." Barrer and others said that officials from all levels of government must work together with donors, local health officials, and communities to defeat the disease. 

Funding Is Critical

Many experts have raised concerns about the severe lack of international funding to combat diarrheal disease.

"The aid system is not responding to the causes of child mortality in a targeted or proportionate manner," charged WaterAid in its report, "Fatal Neglect: How the Health Systems are Failing to Comprehensively Address Child Mortality."

The report shows that diarrheal diseases receive disproportionately less international funding than HIV/AIDS and malaria, even though diarrhea kills many more children. "Funding should reflect the needs to combat the disease," said Bwalya-Mukumbuta, joining her colleagues at PATH in encouraging donors to support a multi-faceted strategy to not only allocate health treatments but also support water, sanitation, environmental, and education solutions.

The solutions are known and achievable, only the money and attention are missing, added Wecker, PATH's vaccine specialist. "The global health community knows what is necessary to save the lives of children suffering from diarrheal disease. And now is the time to educate policymakers, donors, and international and national leaders about the need to implement the solutions to prevent and treat the most severe causes."

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