The role of parents and medical auxiliaries in oral rehydration in Thailand.

ABSTRACT

Parents and medical auxiliaries should participate in the oral rehydration programme to reduce diarrhoeal diseases mortality. Integration of this programme into the national health programme will require a system of education and training that can reach everyone involved in the delivery of health care. A pilot study carried out at a province in northeast of Thailand showed that only 0.6% of diarrhoeal cases had to be referred for treatment to the provincial hospital. The benefit of oral rehydration at periphery by local health officers could be appreciated by the reduction in admission of diarrhoeal cases to the provincial hospital and significant reduction of mortality rate. The role of parents and medical auxiliaries in practice and promotion of oral rehydration is the key to the success of control of diarrhoeal diseases in the context of primary health care.