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Household Water Treatment Proven to Save Lives
CINCINNATI, Ohio, July 27, 2005 — Household water treatment has
been shown to significantly reduce mortality in the first study of its
kind conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
(CDC). The study shows that household water treated with PuR
Purifier of Water — developed by Procter & Gamble (P&G: NYSE)
and marketed by PSI in Haiti and Uganda — significantly lowers diarrhea
in children. The scientific study can be seen in the current issue of
the British Medical Journal online.
"Worldwide, many people drink contaminated water" says John
Crump, first author on the study and CDC medical epidemiologist. "Our
study shows that among people who have highly contaminated and dirty
drinking water, PuR can provide water that looks cleaner and reduces
the risk of diarrhea, particularly among infants and children."
PuR Purifier of Water is a powder that removes pathogens and causes
particles to settle to the bottom of the mixing container when mixed
with water. The powder is packaged in a sachet allowing the user to
treat water easily and affordably in the home. PSI's PuR point-of-use
water treatment programs have achieved significant reductions in diarrheal
disease, with especially high reductions during water-borne epidemics.
The CDC study was a 20 week randomized, controlled health intervention
trial conducted with 6,650 people living in rural western Kenya, near
Lake Victoria. The drinking water source for these families is turbid
water from shallow ponds and streams. Groups of families were randomized
to one of three groups: 1) continue traditional water handling practices,
typically cloth filtration to remove turbidity, 2) receive dilute bleach,
sodium hypochlorite, to disinfect their water or 3) receive PuR Purifier
of Water.
Field workers visited households weekly and used a standardized questionnaire
to record the presence or absence of diarrhea and any deaths during
the seven days since the last visit. Twenty-eight deaths occurred in
the control, 17 in the bleach, and 14 in the PuR group. There were significantly
fewer deaths in the bleach and PuR groups combined compared with control.
Because PuR was deemed highly acceptable to consumers in this study,
P&G has provided funding so that PSI can launch and distribute PuR
throughout Kenya. In Haiti, PSI markets PuR nationwide; during the emergency
relief efforts in September 2004, PSI distributed 500,000 sachets to
people in need. PuR is available in retail outlets and pharmacies across
Uganda. PSI programs in Pakistan and Malawi are also expected to launch
PuR by the end of 2005.
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A recent study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention found that PuR Purifier of Water, which PSI
markets in Haiti and Uganda, significantly lowers diarrhea
in children and reduces mortality.
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