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Many of you already know about our team’s recent trip to Zambia to document diarrheal disease control efforts, but you might not know that we also spent a few extra days to fall off of the social media grid and drink in the beauty of the quintessentially African countryside, occasionally giving into the urge to break into a chorus of “Circle of Life.”

While rolling through expansive amber savannahs and kicking up dust during our safari drive, I marveled not only at the stunning beauty of the world we often take for granted, but also the intricate balance that underpins it all. For instance, I learned that birds simultaneously offer protection and get nourishment as they peck at insects on the backs of larger animals. Even plants have their own defense mechanisms: an acacia tree that’s lost too many leaves will release a chemical that creates a bitter taste, warding off hungry wildlife.

I am in awe of this balance because it seems so precarious. If one element goes awry, everything else suffers. Is that really so different with peoples and nations?

Globalization has made our world small. When we asked our colleagues in Lusaka about what we should eat while in Zambia, they mentioned not only traditional Nshima (a dish made from boiled maize and corn), but also their favorite Thai restaurant or the new jazz club downtown. In our hotel, we ate fish and chips in an Irish-themed pub, washed it down with Mosi (Zambia’s national beer), and listened to the Beatles. American clothing brands commonly appeared alongside brightly patterned chitenges. And always the omnipresent Cola-cola logo welcomed us even to the furthest reaches of our journey.

We can no longer pretend that oceans separate our fates. Lila Watson, an Australian aboriginal, poignantly encapsulates this idea: "If you’re coming to help me, you’re wasting your time. But if you have come because your liberation is bound up with mine, then let us work together.”  

Like the delicate balance that sustains the natural world, our fates are also tied together in many practical ways. Nations’ economies are interlinked; diseases know no borders; civil unrest in one country often spills into other regions. Our world needs balance, and prioritizing the health of a nation’s children is one of the surest ways that it can grow strong.

But, I believe the most important ways in which we are tied together are also the most intangible. Zambia Ministry of Health official Vichael Silavwe’s direct experience with a mother’s grief changed the course of his life. In a rural health clinic, I met Teresa, whose son, Vusi, had just received the rotavirus vaccine, and we chatted and laughed about her son’s antics: how he is an angel during the day but “sings his songs” all night (read: makes far too much noise!). No doubt this would bring a knowing smile to mothers all over the world.

Both practicality and empathy are on our side when we remember to look beyond artificially constructed borders to help repair and restore balance for a healthy global community. Working together for the world’s children is a great place to start.

Precious sleep. From birth, it is essential to our health and well-being. And no one knows this more than a new mother: the sleep her infant needs, and the glorious—albeit inadequate—hours she can snatch in the seemingly endless cycle of waking, resting, changing, feeding, and soothing.

Precious, yet precarious. So little can make so big a difference in the restful and restorative sleep a baby needs. From colic, teething, the slightest change in a routine, or a tiny tummy’s ache, a new mother knows the perils that threaten a sound afternoon nap or a solid night’s sleep all too well. But she also quickly learns her best defenses. Lullabies, teething rings… and vaccines?

Rotavirus vaccine is the latest child health hero, and it can go a long way toward restful nights, by ensuring stomach and intestinal health as well as reducing a mother’s anxiety. Rotavirus is the leading cause of severe childhood diarrhea, and it does not know geographical or socio-economic boundaries. It is virulent and resilient—nearly all unvaccinated children worldwide will have at least one rotavirus infection by age 3. But when vaccination is routine—with new vaccines introduced as recently as 2006—rotavirus infections plummet dramatically, and clinicians and researchers also note a marked reduction of infant diarrhea from any cause.

But though rotavirus diarrhea crosses all boundaries, equity is not universal when it comes to rotavirus vaccination. The sad irony is that access to vaccines is lowest in settings where disease burden is highest. If we work together to get them in practice at every clinic worldwide, rotavirus vaccines stand to make a lasting impact far beyond a restful nap – and far beyond the health benefit to the children vaccinated.

When a baby is fully vaccinated, the protective effects are immediate, yet the health, educational, social, and economic impacts are long term. A mother misses fewer work days due to a child’s illness. Household and government expenditures for health care costs are significantly lower. When child health is protected, families are more stable, leading to the growth of communities and nations. A nation is strong when it has the resources to ensure that its children don’t die from a preventable illness. In rich countries, episodes of diarrhea that may interrupt a child’s restful sleep are inconvenient. In low resource settings, they can be deadly.  

The good news is that the global health community has woken up to acknowledge the threat of rotavirus and the promise of rotavirus vaccines. Ultimately, mothers and their infants will be able to access rotavirus vaccines freely through public sector health systems. First, with support from international donors and coalitions, and eventually with national governments bearing the cost of supply and delivery. Countries in sub-Saharan Africa are beginning to add rotavirus vaccines to routine immunization programs, and emerging-country manufacturers are working on new vaccines that will increase market competition and drive down price. When rotavirus vaccines are included in an integrated approach to diarrhea control that includes both prevention and treatment interventions, children have their greatest chance ever at a healthy start – including precious, uninterrupted rest to nourish the growth of strong bodies. That ought to make mothers worldwide sleep a little easier, too.

-- Deobrah Phillips, Communications Officer, and Hope Randall, Communications Associate for defeatDD at PATH

For more information:

-- Rota-what? Learn more about rotavirus.

-- Zambia is preparing for a national rotavirus vaccine rollout, and the defeatDD team got a first hand glimpse of the preparation.