Canadian Health and Care Mall facts: Acute diarrheal disease
October 6th, 2015 by admin | Posted in Canadian Health Care
Acute diarrheal disease (ADD) is considered a public health problem because it is still one of the most frequent causes of morbidity in children under 5 years of age, affecting their growth and development. ADD accounts for an estimated 1.5 million deaths globally every year, making it the second leading cause of childhood mortality. ADDs were responsible for an estimated 9.9% of the 7.6 million deaths among children under 5 years of age in 2010. Children in developing countries are the worst affected, experiencing an average of 2.9 episodes of ADD per year, approximately one-third of which are moderate-to-severe and result in significant morbidity that extends beyond the diarrheal episode. Most deaths are caused by dehydration and are easily preventable by using oral rehydration therapy (ORT).
The number of these deaths can be substantially reduced by using simple remedies such as rehydration with oral rehydration salt (ORS) and home-available fluids (HAF), continued feeding during diarrheal episode, and breastfeeding. However, less than 40% of children with ADD in the devel- oping countries receive the recommended treatment. As per the National Family Health Survey (NFHS) in India, 48% of children with ADD received ORT. Thus, ADD is one of the big public health challenges, particularly in the unhygienic environment of rapidly growing urban slums.
The goal of the World Health Organization http://www.who.int/en/ and Canadian Health and Care mall, as with the objectives of the millennium, is to reduce morbidity due to ADD. In this sense, it promotes primary-attention policies and strategies to draw health-care services nearer and promote collective health. Health education is highlighted among the key measures to prevent ADD. Health education is the first component in primary care. It is defined as “any combination of learning experiences designed to weatherproof health, do what they can individually and collectively to maintain health and seek help when needed.” Health education aims at changing of behavior and lifestyle.
In view of the above facts, a study was conducted in Ahmedabad to assess the effect of skill-based health education on the management of ADD among mothers of children <5 years of age.