The Global crisis

For children in poor communities, diarrhea remains a major cause of death and can lead to long-term consequences.

The Solutions

Simple and proven tools can prevent and treat diarrhea, and integrating them achieves the greatest impact.

The Report

Read our State of the Field Report to discover how we can stop the cycle of diarrheal disease.

Advocacy Tools

We bring diverse sectors together to break the poo taboo.

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Poo Guru

Meet the Poo Guru! She is flush with facts about toilets, sanitation, and their vital role in global health. On World Toilet Day, she helped us raise awareness about global sanitation solutions. 

Child health in Kenya: opportunities and actions
Kenya’s new, unified policy for child health is a commitment to families and communities.
Untapped
Climate change requires new ideas in sanitation. It's time to reimagine the toilet's potential.

THE SOLUTIONS

We can save more than half a million children’s lives from diarrheal disease each year – and protect them against the long-term harm of repeated infections – with simple, inexpensive solutions that are available today. Vaccines, ORS and zinc, WASH, breastfeeding, and innovative research work best when they work together. We need greater investments in these solutions and in integrated policies to ensure holistic protection against diarrheal disease.

The Blog

Mar 06, 2024
In recent months, numerous news articles have detailed global cholera outbreaks. What do we know about cholera, and why are these outbreaks so
Feb 21, 2024
Increasingly, conflict, displacement, and climate change impact access to life-saving vaccines. These factors can result in millions of children
Feb 14, 2024
Are we ready to face the heat of 2024? This continuing record-breaking average global temperature is being exacerbated. How will this influence the
Baby Vusi, here with his mother, Teresa, received the oral rotavirus vaccine during the 2012 rotavirus vaccine pilot in Lusaka Province, Zambia. In 2013, Zambia introduced the vaccine nationwide. Hear from Teresa about why she thinks all caregivers should ensure their children are vaccinated against rotavirus.
Feb 07, 2024
Rotavirus vaccines became available in 2006. How have they made an impact?
Jan 24, 2024
There are six pathogens that are responsible for the majority of childhood diarrhea: Shigella, rotavirus, adenovirus, enterotoxigenic E. coli,
Jan 10, 2024
As we ready ourselves for the new year, let’s learn from past blogs by taking a look at the top five DefeatDD blogs–reader’s favorites–in 2023
Two young children await their doses of the pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV) in Rwanda.
Dec 13, 2023
Pneumonia and diarrhea continue to be leading infectious causes of childhood mortality, what do we know about the impact of immunizations?
Nov 22, 2023
World Toilet Day might be over, but the UN Water logo of the dedicated hummingbird from the ancient story is still flapping its wings, reminding us
Nov 16, 2023
Sanitation is a human right and yet 3.5 billion people still have no safe toilets and 419 million still have to defecate in the open.
Nov 06, 2023
World Toilet Day is a global observation recognized annually. This year, our theme is “Don’t Stall” to promote urgency in addressing some of the most
Nov 01, 2023
PATH analyzed the potential impact of a Shigella vaccine that could combat growth faltering as a result of diarrhea infection.
Oct 18, 2023
Flooding, heat waves, drought, and other extreme weather events have an immense impact on human health. Learn more about the effect on diarrheal
Oct 13, 2023
In this time of post-pandemic economic recovery, many countries are confronting concurrent multiple challenges including high inflation, adverse
Sep 28, 2023
It’s the end of an era for PATH and for the DefeatDD team. After 15 years at PATH, Dr. Lou Bourgeois, a well-known investigator  in the field of
Sep 20, 2023
Rotavirus vaccines are safe, effective, and reaching more children than ever before. But rotavirus still tops the list of pathogens responsible for

Diarrhea kills half a million children each year. Awareness is the first step to action.

Where health care is hard to reach, vaccines are the best protection against severe diarrhea.

Access to ORS and zinc could prevent more than half of diarrhea deaths.

We can save more lives from diarrhea by combining all available tools.