Diarrhea is such a common disease and had been haunting parents since ages. In developing countries like Pakistan diarrheal disease remains one of the leading causes of ailment and deaths particularly in low-income segment. The situation of child healthcare in Pakistan is adversely causing high child mortality rate. There are thousands of children who die from this very easily curable disease. We can save our kids if the proactive approach of opting safety measures is taken. Also, the participation of some of the best pediatricians from Karachi, Lahore and all other main cities of Pakistan might do wonders.
How Come Children of Rural Area Suffer More from it?
Following are some of the reasons to justify it:
Low Standards of Living:
In rural areas, children suffer from this chronic disease more because they don’t get to eat hygienic food. Water is not stored properly, children are not trained to wash their hands, in short, there living condition is worrisome. Due to lack of cleanliness at home, children get a bacterial infection that causes diarrhea and if it’s not taken care of it can incur death of a kid too.
Limited Resources:
The families of the rural area usually, have more children than the resources they have. Due to budget constraint, they are unable to meet the hygienic needs of kids and when a child gets sick they can’t afford to take them to the hospital.
Lack of Awareness (Low literacy rate):
Diarrhea is a highly preventable disease but lack of awareness among people of rural areas makes it a chronic disease. They don’t maintain their hygienic conditions well such as training them to wash their hands, providing them with soaps, tissues, and hand sanitizers etc. Children don’t get to eat clean food and water due to which they get into this disease.
Poor Sanitary and Sewerage System:
The poor condition of the sanitary system makes the environment and kids vulnerable to diarrhea. Due to the poor sewerage system, children don’t get clean water to wash their hands or even drink clean water.
Lack of Emergency Wards in Rural Hospitals:
Government hospitals are in adverse condition to provide services to the patients. In diarrhea, a child needs an instant medication to recover from it but lack of emergency wards causes death in children.
Low Budget for Healthcare:
Government neglects healthcare department by assigning a low budget to it. A handsome amount of budget should be assigned to the healthcare sector to improve its condition.
Radical steps are required to get rid of this contagious disease. Some of the measures are mentioned below:
- Promote good hygiene at home
- Volunteers should be assigned to the regions to create awareness
- Regularly washing hands with Soap
- Store water and food properly
- Proper Disposal of Children’s’ stool
- Rotavirus vaccine should be promoted in all regions
- Opening of Emergency Pediatric ward in all districts
To get rid of this deadly disease parents should be introduced to the quick steps that they can take at home to prevent their kids from diarrhea. For example, ORS should be given to the kid there and then to help him stay hydrated if it’s not available then a solution of sugar, salt and water should be given to a kid frequently.