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Nearly half a million children die every year from one of the most prolific killers on the planet: diarrhea.
Oral rehydration salts—inexpensive packets of salts and sugar—are a lifesaving treatment now widely available in low- and middle-income countries. But medical providers from South Asia to sub-Saharan Africa just don't prescribe them enough. Why?
In a recent study, researchers from RAND, Duke University, the University of Southern California, and the Indian Institute of Management Bangalore hired actors in India to pose as worried parents seeking care for a sick child. They found that health care providers often ignored the rehydrating salts—not because they didn't think the treatment would work, but because they didn't think parents would want it. Providers tended to think that parents wanted something more, something stronger. That’s a potentially fatal misperception.
When parents did express a preference for rehydrating salts, prescribing rates nearly doubled. This suggests an array of options that could help ensure this treatment reaches more kids who need it. It could be as simple as an informative poster hung up in a pharmacy. Or a WhatsApp campaign could send messages to parents of young kids, encouraging them to ask for rehydrating salts if their child has diarrhea.
Whatever the next step, the findings reveal clear opportunities to potentially save the lives of hundreds of thousands of children.
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