Subject: ORSZCA UPDATE: Global ORS/Zinc Status, Child Health Spotlights, DHS, Website now in French

Welcome to the ORSZCA UPDATE

GLOBAL ORS/ZINC STATUS

We continue to update and share our resource on the ORS and Zinc status around the world – orszco-pack.org/orsz-status. You can help by adding to the resource either by commenting on the ORSZCA website or by completing a questionnaire in English or French.

CHILD HEALTH SPOTLIGHTS – UNICEF & SAVE THE CHILDREN

UNICEF and Save the Children have collaborated to share 15 “high-burden” country profiles focussed on pneumonia and diarrhoea and in particular how to protect, prevent and diagnose and treat these two diseases – see childhealthspotlights.org. Our concern is that the resource makes no mention of ORS or Zinc for the treatment of diarrhoea. We are in communication with those behind the site in an attempt to get this corrected. This is particularly important as the site is designed to “help inform policy and decision-making at national and global levels”. We have also suggested that profiles are added for Cameroon and Madagascar which are both in the top 10 high-burden diarrhoea countries.

DHS QUESTION ON CO-PACKAGED ORS AND ZINC

As a network focussed on accelerating the uptake of co-packaged ORS and Zinc, we are interested in how we monitor the uptake of this 2019 WHO recommendation. With this in mind, we have been in contact with ICF, which has implemented the USAID-supported Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS) Program since 1984, with a view to modifying the questions within the DHS that relate to diarrhoea treatment to gather information on co-pack usage. The DHS questionnaires are reviewed every five years and the next opportunity to engage in this process will be in the last quarter of 2023. Between now and then we will be consulting with the ORSZCA network on how the DHS questionnaire might be usefully modified to collect this data. If you can contribute to this effort please email simon.berry@orszco-pack.org.

ORS/ZINC CO-PACK MANUFACTURERS

We have updated our information on ORS/Zinc Co-pack manufacturers around the world but would like your input in ensuring the list is as complete and correct as possible. Please add any amendments or additions by commenting on our manufacturers page here: ORS/ZINC CO-PACK MANUFACTURERS. Your comments will not be published directly on the website but will be used by our website editor to update the page.

ENGAGING WITH FRANCOPHONE AFRICA ON CO-PACKAGING

Of the top 10 countries with the highest -burdens of diarrhoea, five are Francophone: Cameroon (8th), Chad (5th), DRC (7th), Madagascar (9th) and Niger (6th). However, engagement with ORSZCA from these countries is very low. As part of a strategy to improve this we have now launched a French version of the ORSZCA website. We have also split our mailing list and in future we will be issuing different versions of this ORSZCA UPDATE for English and French speaking members. If you would like to receive the French version of the ORSZCA UPDATE in future please email simon.berry@orszco-pack.org. If you have contacts in Francophone countries you might benefit from the ORSZCA UPDATE please direct them here: INSCRIVEZ-VOUS ICI

Thank you.

Morseda and Samy
ORSZCA Co-chairs

Dr Morseda Chowdhury
Director of Health, Nutrition and Population Programme
BRAC, Bangladesh

Samy Ahmar
Head of Health
Save the Children, UK