Abt Associates/POUZN Project Launches Africa’s First Diarrhea Treatment Kit

USAID’s Diarrheal Disease Control Plus: Point-of-Use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment (POUZN) Project, led by Abt Associates, launched Africa’s first diarrhea treatment kit, containing two sachets of a new, orange-flavored, low-osmolarity oral rehydration salts (ORS) and ten tablets of pediatric zinc, in the west African nation of Benin. USAID has been at the forefront of efforts to catalyze the introduction of zinc through both public and private sector channels, addressing the fact that approximately 1.8 million children die each year of diarrhea-related illness, the vast majority in the developing world. The diarrhea treatment kit, socially marketed in Benin under the name ORASEL/Zinc by Abt’s implementing partner, Population Services International, was piloted in March 2008, with UNICEF funding, in two regions, Zou and Collines, which have the highest diarrheal disease incidence rates in the country. In July this program extended its reach to an additional six urban and peri-urban target areas, with USAID support, covering the majority of Benin’s population of children under five years of age.

Other achievements include developing diarrheal disease prevention IEC materials, tailored to local knowledge and literacy levels, to be used in community outreach activities and creating a mass media campaign that promotes purchase and use of the kit for all childhood diarrheas. The project is working closely with the Ministry of Health to train its health center and community outreach staff and to distribute the product through public health facilities as well as making the kit available through private commercial channels through the network of wholesalers and retailers throughout Benin.

For more information on the Abt Associates-led POUZN project, please click here