Diarrhea causes dehydration, which kills approximately 3.5 million children every year. Diarrhoea is also a major cause of child malnutrition. The seven health messages in this chapter can help parents and communities to prevent almost all of these deaths and most of the malnutrition caused by diarrhoea. The main causes of diarrhoea are poor hygiene and lack of clean drinking water. It is the responsibility of government to support the community in tackling these basic problems .
Diarrhoea can kill children by draining too much liquid from the body.
So it is essential to give a child with diarrhoea plenty of liquids to drink. Trained help is needed if diarrhoea is more serious than usual. A child who is recovering from diarrhoea needs an extra meal every day for at least a week. Medicines should not be used for diarrhoea, except on medical advice. Diarrhoea can be prevented by breast-feeding, by immunizing all children against measles, by using latrines, by keeping food and water clean, and by washing hands before touching food.