This was originally published on Global Health TV on October 28, 2015.
I’m grateful to Chelsea Clinton for her admission that she
is “obsessed with
diarrhea,” and her total lack of embarrassment in bringing it up repeatedly.
In an interview
with Fast Company, it was the
first thing she wanted to talk about.
I’m grateful to her because she is, as far, as I know, the
only well-known public figure to champion the prevention and treatment of
diarrhea, the world’s
second biggest killer of children under five years old, even though we have
cheap and effective ways of dealing with it.
“It’s completely unacceptable that more than 750,000
children die every year because of severe dehydration due to diarrhea,” said
Clinton last year. “I just think that’s unconscionable.”
We need more champions of the diarrhea issue.
Four years ago, I wrote a
blog bemoaning the fact that oral
rehydration therapy (ORT) seemed to be on life support, even though The
Lancet once called it “the most important medical advance of the 20th
century.” ORT and its practical application, oral rehydration solution (ORS),
have long been found to be both effective and cost-effective in treating the
dehydration caused by diarrhea.
