Global Health NOW: We Have the Power to Save Children’s Lives. We Must Act.
Inon Schenker, co-director of the Ben Gurion University Global Health Summer Program, Blockchain-Technologies for SDG attainment leader, and senior global health consultant at IMPACT (Jerusalem); and Emma Brofsky, steering committee member of APHA’s GMCHN and co-chair of the Communications Committee for the Maternal and Child Health Section

“…[I]t’s time to talk and advocate for the full treatment for watery diarrhea in children under age 5. It’s a global public health priority. Acute diarrhea is the second leading cause of death for children under 5. … These deaths are largely preventable through inexpensive, effective treatments that can be administered at home. If every child sickened with acute diarrhea received treatment with [oral rehydration solution (ORS)] and zinc sulfate, more than 300,000 children’s lives could be saved annually. Yet unacceptably few children with diarrhea receive ORS … This powerful treatment combination must be made available to every child who needs it. Governments, humanitarian organizations, health care providers, and funders must align their policies, guidelines, and practices to reduce child mortality from diarrhea to zero” (7/15).