Knowledge of oral rehydration therapy among private practitioners and pharmacists
Nagi, B.S.
Health and Population Perspectives and Issues 14(1-2): 44-53
1992
ISSN/ISBN: 0253-6803 Document Number: 334722
Diarrhoea is one of the main cuases of death in children under 5 years of age in India. Roughly 1.5 million children die due to diarrhoea and diarrhoea related diseases every year. In order to review the ongoing ORT Programme in the country, a study was conducted by the Council for Social Development in 1989. Six randomly selected States were covered under this study namely, Haryana, Maharashtra, Orissa, Rajasthan, Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh. Findings of the study revealed that the knowledge of the private practitioners about different aspect of diarrhoea was very poor in almost all the States. It is, therfore, recommended that the Government of India should launch an orientation programme throughout the country to equip the private practitioners with the requisite knowledge of ORT to implement the programme effectively. Pharmacists should also have correct knowledge about the preparation of ORS solution so that they should give proper advice for the management and prevention of diarrhoea to their customers. According to the recommendations of the study the Government of India should involve fully the private practitioners and pharmacists to play a potential role in the execution of the National CDD Programme.