* WHO oral rehydration salts are widely available in developing countries.
WITHOUT TREATMENT – 50% MAY DIE
WITH TREATMENT 1% AT RISK
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1 thought on “Home Treatment for Nepalese/MINUSTAH cholera”
On Monday, November 8, 2010 I submitted the following comment in regards to a NYT opinion piece on homemade oral rehydration. The writer, too, had neglected to provide this vital recipe no information on how to easily disinfect water using sunlight.
Having just returned from 2 months in Haiti and since then following the cholera outbreak, I’m appalled by the lack of information being provided to the Haitian people. Doctors Without Borders recommends using packets of Oral Rehydration Salts but does not provide a recipe so people can start using it as soon as possible. Instead, families waste critical time thinking they need to get a special concoction from the anointed ‘blancs.’
Also, it is possible to disinfect water by simply putting it in clear plastic bottles and leaving it in the sun for 6-8 hours. (See the SODIS project – http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN) This would make people much less dependent on water trucks brought in by NGO’s.
But the Haitian government and NGO’s don’t provide this critical information which could easily be conveyed via text message and the radio. After my time in Haiti I’m with Sean Penn – there’s an insidious underlying bent towards keeping the population dependent and oppressed.
Recipe for Oral Re-Hydration Solution:
8 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 liter water
It is more important to get someone drinking the salt/sugar solution than wasting time and resources boiling water. People with cholera have already been exposed so using the cleanest water possible is recommended.
On Monday, November 8, 2010 I submitted the following comment in regards to a NYT opinion piece on homemade oral rehydration. The writer, too, had neglected to provide this vital recipe no information on how to easily disinfect water using sunlight.
Having just returned from 2 months in Haiti and since then following the cholera outbreak, I’m appalled by the lack of information being provided to the Haitian people. Doctors Without Borders recommends using packets of Oral Rehydration Salts but does not provide a recipe so people can start using it as soon as possible. Instead, families waste critical time thinking they need to get a special concoction from the anointed ‘blancs.’
Also, it is possible to disinfect water by simply putting it in clear plastic bottles and leaving it in the sun for 6-8 hours. (See the SODIS project – http://www.sodis.ch/index_EN) This would make people much less dependent on water trucks brought in by NGO’s.
But the Haitian government and NGO’s don’t provide this critical information which could easily be conveyed via text message and the radio. After my time in Haiti I’m with Sean Penn – there’s an insidious underlying bent towards keeping the population dependent and oppressed.
Recipe for Oral Re-Hydration Solution:
8 teaspoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 liter water
It is more important to get someone drinking the salt/sugar solution than wasting time and resources boiling water. People with cholera have already been exposed so using the cleanest water possible is recommended.