Zinc
WHO has defined zinc deficiency as one of the major risks to child health and recommended the use of zinc supplementation and the new formulation of oral rehydration salts (ORS) as the best way to decrease the incidence, severity, duration and recurrence of diarrheal disease in children. Studies have shown that zinc supplementation provides a prophylactic protection against future bouts of diarrhea, and results in a 25% reduction in duration of acute diarrhea and 40% reduction in treatment failure or death in persistent diarrhea.
Zinc tablets, which dissolve easily in a tablespoon of clean water, can be marketed alone or packaged together along with ORS as a diarrhea treatment kit. The kit contains a ten day course of zinc treatments along with two sachets of ORS.
PSI began distributing Zinc in 2006; launching our first program in Nepal. PSI now has programs in Cambodia, Benin and soon Madagascar and Sudan.
Archived in
Health Areas: Child Survival, Diarrheal Disease
