[afro-nets] Improved Formula for Oral Rehydration Salts

[Jawad Asghar <jawad@alumni.washington.edu>]

Improved Formula for Oral Rehydration Salts
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-- Forwarded message --
From: Documentation Centre - mz <omsdoc@mz.afro.who.int>
Date: Mar 23, 2006 4:39 AM
Subject: WHO/UNICEF Joint News Release: IMPROVED FORMULA FOR
ORAL REHYDRATION SALTS TO SAVE CHILDREN'S LIVES


Joint News Release WHO/UNICEF/14
23 March 2006

IMPROVED FORMULA FOR ORAL REHYDRATION SALTS TO SAVE CHILDREN'S
LIVES

Improved formula means better treatment for life-threatening
diarrhoeal dehydration.

NEW YORK/GENEVA, 23 March 2006 ­ The World Health Organization
(WHO) and UNICEF today announced a new formula for the manufac-
ture of Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS). The new formula will bet-
ter combat acute diarrhoeal disease and advance the Millennium
Development Goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds be-
fore 2015.

Diarrhoea is currently the second leading cause of child deaths
and kills 1.9 million young children every year, mostly from de-
hydration.

The latest improved ORS formula contains less glucose and sodium
(245 mOsm/l compared with the previous 311 mOsm/l). The lower
concentration of the new formula allows for quicker absorption
of fluids, reducing the need for intravenous fluids and making
it easier to treat children with acute non-cholera diarrhoea
without hospitalization.

ORS use is the simplest, most effective and cheapest way to keep
children alive during severe episodes of diarrhoea. The ORS so-
lution is absorbed in the small intestine, thus replacing the
water and electrolytes lost. WHO provides the only updated in-
ternational quality specifications for this formula and UNICEF
is a leading supplier of ORS to poor countries. WHO and UNICEF
have jointly issued guidance for the production of the new ORS.

WHO and UNICEF recommend that countries manufacture and use the
new ORS in place of the previous formula. WHO and UNICEF will
help national authorities develop manufacturing guidelines and
procedures for the new formula. Establishing the local produc-
tion of ORS will be a key step to ensure countries can meet
their own needs in controlling diarrhoeal disease.

According to UNICEF and WHO, oral rehydration therapy should be
combined with guidance on appropriate feeding practices. Provi-
sion of zinc supplements (20 mg of zinc per day for 10 to 14
days) and continued breastfeeding during acute episodes of diar-
rhoea protect against dehydration and reduces protein and calo-
rie consumption to have the greatest impact on reducing diar-
rhoea and malnutrition in children.

The revised monograph for the new ORS formula will be published
in the fourth edition of The International Pharmacopoeia. It is
also available on the WHO website:

http://www.who.int/medicines/publications/pharmacopoeia/ors/

Additional information on diarrhoea can be found on UNICEF's
Facts for Life website: http://www.unicef.org/ffl/07 and on the
WHO Child and Adolescent Health web site:
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/New_Publications/CHILD_HEALTH/Acute_Diarrhoea.pdf

Detailed recommendations concerning the provision and production
of ORS are provided in a revised joint WHO/UNICEF publication,
'Oral Rehydration Salts: Production of the New ORS':
http://www.who.int/child-adolescent-health/publications/CHILD_HEALTH/WHO_FCH_CAH_06.1.htm


For more information please contact:
Daniela Bagozzi, Communications Officer, WHO
Tel: +41-22-791-4544,
mobile: +41-79-475-5490
mailto:bagozzid@who.int

Claire Hajaj, Media Officer, UNICEF New York
Tel. +1-212-326-7566
mailto:chajaj@unicef.org
All press releases, fact sheets and other WHO media material may
be found at http://www.who.int


--
Rana Jawad Asghar MD. MPH.
Coordinator South Asian Public Health Forum
mailto:jawad@alumni.washington.edu
http://www.DrJawad.com
Typhoid Net http://www.typhoid.net