July 29, 2024 5:02 PM.
The Railway Hospital in Vijayawada marked World ORS Day with an awareness programme held at the New OPD block today. Chief Medical Superintendent Dr. M. Sowribala inaugurated the event and highlighted the theme for this year, ‘Creating Awareness about the Magic Mixture,’ emphasizing the invention and significance of ORS.
Senior Medical Officers of the hospital addressed the audience on the critical topics of diarrhoea and dehydration in children, outlining the guidelines for ORS usage in paediatric care. The event saw a significant turnout, especially among women and children, who benefitted from the distribution of WHO formula ORS packets. The awareness program successfully conveyed essential information on the life-saving benefits of ORS.
Speaking to newsmen here on Saturday, IAP Krishna district unit president MA Rahman and secretary PSN Murthy explained that this year the slogan for the World ORS Week was ‘ORS – The Most Simple Solution’. “About 15 per cent of the deaths of children below five years of age — that is, 1.34 million deaths in the world — are due to diarrhea. In India, every year, 15 lakh children die because of it. However, it can be effectively prevented by administering the ORS, when the symptoms of diarrhea such as vomiting and loose motion are noticed,” they explained.
They said that ORS sachets were widely available and added that the same could be prepared at home also. They said that during the next one week they would be educating the people about this. Both the pediatricians also warned people against self-medication. “ORS is a simple and effective manner to combat dehydration and there is need for more awareness among the people about this,” they said. The World Health Organisation (WHO) observes July 29 as the ‘World ORS Day’.
Meanwhile, IAP-Vijayawada would also celebrate the ‘Breast-feeding Week’ from August 1 to 7 to create awareness among the people, especially women, about the importance of breast milk, another pediatrician Durga Prasad said. This year’s slogan would be ‘Breast-feeding And Work – Let’s Make it Work’, he added.
Dr Prasad, who is a also a member of IAP-Vijayawada — pointed out that though the mother’s milk was considered the ultimate food for the infants, the number of mothers breastfeeding their newborns was coming down year after year. Only 46 per cent new mothers were practicing breastfeeding, he said and added that the high rate of infant mortality could be attributed to this.