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Doctors and Chemists unite on ORS Day to spread the message: "ORS Saves Lives"

July 29, 2001

NEW DELHI. Today has been declared ORS Day by the Indian Academy of Pediatrics (IAP) as part of a major effort to reduce childhood diarrhea deaths. At a special function in New Delhi, The Hon. Union Minister for Health and Family Welfare,Padmashree Dr. C. P. Thakur, extended his continued support to the cause of promoting Oral Rehydration Solution (ORS) as a life-saving intervention. Members of IAP, Dr. G.S. Hathi, Dr. Y.C. Mathur, and Dr. Dilip Mukherjee participated in the half-day symposium with IAP partners, ICICI and the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). ICICI General Manager Mr. R. Kannan, USAID/India Director Mr. Walter North, and members of the All India Organization of Chemists and Druggists (AIOCD) exchanged views on strategies to save children's lives, particularly through ORS.

On ORS Day, branches of IAP across the country also organized awareness-raising activities, including television interviews, community meetings, and and doctors' seminars, while members of AIOCD conducted a rally in Delhi. Institutions representing more than 800,000 people came together to pledge their support to promote ORS.

ORS Day also acknowledged the work of Dr. Dilip Mahalanobis, illustrious Indian scientist and an original member of the team that developed ORS. Dr. Mahalanobis, who is now working with colleagues in Dhaka, Bangladesh, accepted on behalf of the Dhaka institution, the first ever Gates Award for $1.0 million for the development of ORS. ORS, a simple, but powerful technology, has saved millions of lives over the years.

In India in the past ten years, ORS has saved a half million children from diarrhea death. Yet, diarrhea still remains the main cause of childhood deaths - more than 600,000 children die every year, or 1,666 deaths per day. Many of these lives could have been saved had these children been given ORS at the onset of symptoms. ORS - recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) and also known as WHO composition - replaces fluid and electrolyte loss that can lead to dehydration, the most common cause of death from diarrhea.

IAP and its partners have been expanding and intensifying efforts to promote ORS along with continued breastfeeding and solid food for all children with diarrhea. Strategies include pledges by doctors and chemists to recommend and dispense ORS as the first line of therapy for diarrhea. Parents are encouraged to keep ORS at home, particularly during the diarrhea season, May-September. Manufacturers can invest in marketing and promotion of ORS. Since the beginning of the ORS Saves Lives campaign, IAP has conducted more than 100 seminars for doctors targeting nearly 8000 physicians.

ORS Day was organized by IAP in association with USAID and ICICI, which implement's a USAID Child and Reproductive Health project. Technical assistance was provided by the Program for Appropriate Technology in Health.

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