Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
20% of municipal and urban slum, and 10% of rural children under 5 years of age
were actually using zinc for childhood diarrhea. Use of zinc was shown to be safe,
with few side-effects, and did not affect the use of traditional treatments for diarrhea.
Researchers also found that many children were not given the correct 10-days course
of treatment; 50% of parents were sold seven or fewer zinc tablets.
What Do These Findings Mean?
These findings show that the first national campaign promoting zinc treatment for
childhood diarrhea in Bangladesh has had some success. Addition of zinc tablets for
diarrhea treatment did not interfere with existing therapies. Mass media campaigns,
using TV and radio, were useful for promoting health care initiatives nationwide
alongside the education of health care providers and care givers. The study also iden-
tified areas where more work is needed. Surveys in more remote, hard to reach sites
in Bangladesh would provide better representation of the country as a whole. High
awareness of zinc did not translate into high use. Repeated surveying in the same sub-
districts may have overestimated actual awareness levels. Furthermore, mass media
messages must link with messages from health care providers to help to reinforce
and promote understanding of the use of zinc. A change in focus of media messages
from awareness to promoting household decision-making may aid the adoption of zinc
treatment for childhood diarrhea and improve adherence.
KEYWORDS
Childhood diarrhea
Oral rehydration salt
Oral rehydration therapies
World Health Organization
Zinc treatment
AUTHORS' CONTRIBUTIONS
ICMJE criteria for authorship read and met: Charles P. Larson, Unnati Rani Saha,
and Hazera Nazrul. Agree with the manuscript's results and conclusions: Charles P.
Larson, Unnati Rani Saha, and Hazera Nazrul. Designed the experiments/the study:
Charles P. Larson and Hazera Nazrul. Analyzed the data: Charles P. Larson, Unnati
Rani Saha, and Hazera Nazrul. Enrolled patients: Hazera Nazrul. Wrote the first draft
of the chapter: Charles P. Larson. Contributed to the writing of the chapter: Unnati
Rani Saha and Hazera Nazrul . Participated in planning and writing the protocol, over-
saw data management:Unnati Rani Saha, . Participated in the planning and writing the
protocol, managed field site data collection:Hazera Nazrul.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
ICDDR,B acknowledges with gratitude the commitment of the Bill & Melinda Gates
Foundation to the Centre's research efforts.
 
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