Using oral rehydration therapy

Description

Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a practical, life-saving intervention that involves administering a precise mixture of water, salts, and sugar to individuals suffering from dehydration, particularly due to diarrhoeal diseases. The essential action is to rapidly restore fluid and electrolyte balance, preventing severe dehydration and death. ORT is simple, cost-effective, and can be administered at home or in community settings, making it a critical remedy for reducing mortality from diarrhoeal illnesses worldwide.

Context

Every year 3 million children succumb to diarrhoeal disease.

Implementation

Oral rehydration therapy (ORT) is a low-cost life-saving method of preventing and treating the dehydration caused by diarrhoeal disease. More than one decade ago, ORT was was hardly known, but today it is being used by almost 40 percent of all families in the developing world and saving about 1 million lives each year. As of 1994, forty nations, 16 of them in Africa, have lifted ORT use rates by 30 percent or more over the last seven years.