Which research will help to reduce deaths from childhood diarrhea?,Press release from PLoS Medicine

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Public release date: 9-Mar-2009

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2009-03/plos-wrw030309.php

Contact: Hyde

press@...

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Public Library of Science

Which research will help to reduce deaths from childhood diarrhea?

Press release from PLoS Medicine

An international team of health researchers, writing in this week's PLoS

Medicine, says that the number one research priority for reducing

childhood deaths from diarrhoea is to find ways to improve the

acceptability and effectiveness of oral rehydration solution (ORS).

But unfortunately, says the team, donor agencies have shown little

interest in funding this type of research.

Childhood diarrhoea claims almost 2 million lives each year and is

responsible for about 1 in 5 child deaths worldwide. The World Health

Organization (WHO) recommends a new reduced osmolarity ORS for treating

dehydrating diarrhoeal disease.

The 15 researchers, led by Olivier Fontaine at the WHO's Department of

Child and Adolescent Health and Development, set out to define which

research questions should be prioritized to improve the chances of

cutting childhood diarrhoea deaths by 2015. They used a methodology

designed by the Child Health and Nutrition Research Initiative

(www.chnri.org) — in which all possible research options are initially

listed and are then given scores.

The top 10% of research investments prioritized by the researchers included:

* What is the acceptability and effectiveness of the new reduced

osmolarity ORS in the clinic as well as in the community?

* What is the effectiveness of zinc supplementation (a proven

treatment against diarrhoea) on the outcome and incidence of diarrhoea

in the community?

* What are the barriers against appropriate use of ORS?

* Designing locally adapted training programs to orient health

workers on a treatment strategy called 'Integrated Management of

Childhood Illness'

(http://www.who.int/child_adolescent_health/topics/prevention_care/child/imci/en\

/index.html)

* Identifying cost-effective, sustainable methods for

community-based promotion and support for early initiation and

continuation of breastfeeding during the first 6 months of life and

prolonged breastfeeding.

" The main message of the process, " say Fontaine and colleagues, " is that

the research priorities to reduce global mortality from childhood

diarrhoea within the present context are dominated by health systems,

policy research, and epidemiological questions. "

" These questions are mainly targeted at better understanding the

barriers towards implementation, effectiveness, and optimisation of use

of available interventions and programmes such as oral rehydration

solution, zinc supplementation, exclusive breastfeeding, and Integrated

Management of Childhood Illness. "

The authors caution, however, that " very few donors agencies recognise

the importance of these domains of health research and are willing to

readily invest in those options. "

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Citation: Fontaine O, Kosek M, Bhatnagar S, Boschi-Pinto C, Chan KY, et

al. (2009) Setting research priorities to reduce global mortality from

childhood diarrhoea by 2015. PLoS Med 6(3): e1000041.

doi:10.1371/journal.pmed.1000041

http://medicine.plosjournals.org/perlserv/?request=get-document & doi=10.1371/jour\

nal.pmed.1000041

CONTACT:

Olivier Fontaine

Department of Child and Adolescent Health and Development

Tel: +41 22 7912894

Ms Olivia Lawes-

Tel: +41 22 7911209

--

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