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Diarrheal Diseases

Diarrheal diseases are dangerous for infants and small children because they rapidly become dehydrated. Diarrhea is a leading cause of death among children under five years old in developing countries. It is estimated that 4 billion people in the world become infected with diarrheal diseases annually, and about 1.8 million of them die. About 90% of these deaths are children under five.

Of the incidents of diarrheal disease, 88% are attributed to unsafe water supply and inadequate sanitation and hygiene. The World Health Organization reports that improvements in drinking-water quality through household water treatment can reduce the incidence of diarrhea by 35% to 39%.

Acquiring safe drinking water is not always easy in rural areas of developing countries. Rural residents carry water from lakes, rivers, and wells and store it in their homes. Even if the water is clean at the source, it can be contaminated during transportation and storage. The Safe Water System was developed by the Centers for Disease Control and the World Health Organization to provide people in developing countries with products that would sanitize and safely store drinking water in a relatively simple and inexpensive way. The Safe Water System was given the brand name Claro ("clear" in Spanish) and promoted in Latin America to prevent diarrheal diseases.

Sources:

1997 Marketing book for the Claro program in Bolivia.

For ongoing research about diarrheal diseases check out the Rehydration Project at

http://rehydrate.org/news/index.html.

This page was created by Minnesota State University, Mankato student. Updated by Melissa Lorentz 1/19/08.