Comparing Nepal, Egypt and Honduras ORT Campaigns

Diarrhoea has been a major problem in many countries across the world. This is particularly the case in most developing countries, which register a high number of cases annually with the most affected population being children and women. The cases are often common among poor people in those countries affected the most. As a result, Diarrhoea-related dehydration has been a major killer in those countries. Countries such as Nepal, Egypt and Honduras are among such countries. Oral Rehydration Therapy campaigns were launched in these countries to deal with the problem. We are going to look at the different approaches taken by these countries to combat fatalities related to the disease.

Similarities

In all of them, the first strategy was to address the primary cause of the disease which was found to be unsanitary conditions and hence locals were educated on the importance of practicing hygienic practices. Media adverticements on radio and televisions were used educate the locals. Instructions were also printed on clothes, umbrellas, posts and billboards to spread the treatment knowledge. Books and comics were also used in the campaign to assist in passing the messages to locals who could not read.

Differences

In Nepal for case, Oral Rehydration syrup (ORS) was introduced to combat the effects of dehydration. Even after the discovery of the treatment, it took time before it could gain hold due to the remoteness of the country. The governments campaign to spread the treatment was done by empowering the communication with the locals. The Nepalese government also trained its locals on how to prepare local solutions to combat the shortage of commercial ORS through song compositions on radio by popular musicians. Training of retiring soldiers on how to make the solutions was done, and thus they would act as traditional healers in the society.

In the Honduras case, ORT was not used to treat cases of Diarrhoea in children since the cause, empacho, was more different than the others and thus could not be cured using the oral solutions like the rest. In any case, oral solutions made the cases worse. Surveys were also done to establish the awareness rates among the locals. The government enlisted the help of Academic bodies in their campaigns to sensitise the locals of the ways to deal with the problem. Ethno medicine was used as the primary driving factor in the campaigns since it was the most efficient method that could be employed by the authorities.

In the Egyptian case, the campaign targeted the education of mothers and children on the ways of avoiding diarrhoea. While the Nepalese authorities focused on the treatment of the disease, the Egyptian campaign focused more on how to avoid the complications caused by diarrhoea, and the parents were educated on the importance of giving the patients plenty of fluids to keep them hydrated. Basic health information and knowledge on the causes and modes of handling diarrhoea was also spread to the mothers. The campaign insisted on the need to prevent dehydration as a priority rather than preventing diarrhoea.

Strengths and Weaknesses

The Egyptian campaign focused on reduction prevention of dehydration as a priority when one has diarrhoea, which was efficient in reducing cases of complications brought about by the disease. By focusing more on the mothers and babies under five, the campaign managed to eliminate child mortality due to diarrhoea. On the downside, the decision not to focus on treatment as a priority lead to more deaths than would not have happened.The main strengths of the Nepal campaign were the ability to penetrate a large number of their locals with the education on how to handle the diseases at home before acquiring health service. The campaign's strategy to employ the use of traditional medics also proved to be a useful asset in the campaign since the sink could be attended to locally even without the need for expensive health care centers and thus it made it cheaper to deal with the problem. The downside of the campaign is that it did not enlist academic help and thus it took more time to combat the disease.

The Honduras campaign strategy of conducting regular surveys was its main strength as it made it easier for the authorities to keep track of the disease rather than working blindly to combat it. The weakness with this strategy is that it was too time-consuming and costly considering the economic pressure the problem was weighing on the country and its resources.

How Lessons Learned Can Be Used To Improve Another.

Some of the experience gained from the different campaign strategies could be utilized selectively to improve the other countries campaigns. For example, the importance of focusing on preventing the occurrence of the disease as a priority to treatment as learned from the Egypt campaign could be integrated into the Nepal campaign to reinforce their strategy so as to reduce the cases of occurrence further. The lessons on the importance using local healers as learned from the Nepal campaign strategy could also be integrated in the Honduras campaign to reduce the treatment costs burden for the patients.