Diarrhoea treatment usage low

Usage of a new treatment for diarrhoea is low despite high levels of awareness, a study has found.

Experts from the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research looked into take up of the medication in Bangladesh.

The study, which is printed in the PLoS journal, found that awareness was less than ten per cent before the launch of the treatment, however, within ten months this had risen to as high as 90 per cent in some areas.

Despite this, after 23 months the highest take up of the treatment among children under five was 25 per cent.

It was also revealed that many children receiving the medication were not given the correct ten-day course.

Last month, research carried out by the World Health Organisation and Unicef and released by the United Nations (UN) found that diarrhoea kills around 1.5 million children every year.

In response to this problem, the UN launched World Hand Washing Day.

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