Minister For Using ORS, Zinc To Control Diarrhea

Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Tuesday stressed the need for increasing the use of ORS (oral rehydration salts) and Zinc to control diarrhea related child mortality in the province

LAHORE, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 14th Sep, 2021 ) :Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Tuesday stressed the need for increasing the use of ORS (oral rehydration salts) and Zinc to control diarrhea related child mortality in the province.

Addressing the launching ceremony of Diarrhea Management Project by Greenstar here, she said that Pakistan loses thousands of lives every year due to diarrhea among children.

Present on the occasion were Director General Health Services Punjab Dr. Haroon Jehangir, Director General Health South Punjab Dr. Khalil, CEO Greenstar Social Marketing Dr. Ayed Azizul Arab and representative of UNFPA and Pakistan Pediatric Association. The project had been launched by Nutrition International with Greenstar Social Marketing.

The minister appreciated this great initiative by Greenstar Social Marketing for health of children and said that according to World Health Organisation (WHO), a number of diarrhea-related deaths could be prevented by using ORS.

Greenstar would train over 3000 healthcare providers and 200 community mobilizers, she said and added that after training, the community mobilizers would provide door to door awareness to mothers. "We will have to increase the use of Zinc and ORS to reduce diarrhea-related mortality among children," she said.

The government was developing seven mother and child hospitals in Punjab, she informed.

CEO Greenstar Marketing Syed Azizul Arab said his organization had been working for last threedecades on health of children. He expressed gratitude to the Health Minister and said awarenesswould be generated among public about the use of ORS and Zinc to prevent diarrhea related mortality.