Diarrhoea causes higher deaths among children: WHO

BEIJING, March 11 (Chinese medianet) -- Diarrhoea

among children accounts for20 percent of all child deaths, killing nearly two

million children each year even though treating the ailment is relatively simple

and "almost miraculous", the World Health Organization saidTuesday.

Research into childhood diarrhoea has declined since

the 1980s, keeping pace with dwindling funds for a disease that causes

relatively higher child deaths,the WHO said in a statement.

"Funds available for research into diarrhoea are much

lower than those devoted to other diseases that cause comparatively few deaths,"

it said.

The most immediate challenge is to ensure all

children suffering from diarrhoea can access a simple, 25-year-old treatment

consisting of zinc tablets and a mixture known as Oral Rehydration Salts or ORS,

said Dr. Olivier Fontaine, a WHO medical officer specializing in child health.

The WHO estimates some 50

million children have been saved thanks to the mixture, which costs only 30 US centsper

child.

"ORS is essentially a pinch of salt and a handful of

sugar mixed with clean water," Fontaine said.

"Having seen, first hand, the devastation that

childhood diarrhoea can cause and also the almost miraculous, life-saving power

of ORS and zinc, I certainly hope that we'll receive the support we need to come

up with answers to some of the key questions that remain," he said.

The international Red Cross also warned Tuesday that

diarrhoeal diseases, such as cholera, are on the rise and increasingly a major

cause of diseases and deaths throughout the world.

(Agencies)