Mass media educates mothers
In 1977, diarrhea-related dehydration was responsible for the deaths of nearly half of the infants in Egypt. To address this, the National Control of Diarrheal Disease Project of Egypt was formed to inform mothers of small children about the appropriate treatment for diarrhea and to promote the use of locally produced oral rehydration solution (ORS) to treat dehydration. The project trained health care workers on the optimal treatment for diarrhea-related dehydration and reached mothers through television and other mass media programming, which led to almost universal awareness among Egyptian mothers and a four-fold increase in the distribution of ORS. From 1982 to 1987 diarrhea-related child deaths fell 82 percent and deaths from diarrhea among older children fell 62 percent.
Contributed by Center for Global Development