I would implore the ministry of health to ask the manufacturers of ORS to cut back their prices.
KARACHI: Acute diarrhoeal diseases are among the leading causes of mortality in infants and young children in many developing countries. In most cases, death is caused by dehydration. Dehydration from diarrhoea can be prevented by giving extra fluids at home, or it can be treated effectively in all age-groups — and in all but the most severe cases — by administering an adequate glucose-electrolyte solution called Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) solution to the patients, orally.
Unfortunately, persistent increase in the price of medicines has affected the price of ORS as well. Only recently, the price of ORS has been increased by a whopping 170 per cent! — rising from Rs10 per packet to Rs27. While twenty-seven rupees may not be much for most affluent Pakistanis, it represents a substantial amount for many poor people, and these are, ironically, the most in need of ORS.
I would implore the ministry of health to ask the manufacturers of ORS to cut back their prices.
Aliya Rasheed
Published in The Express Tribune, June 5th, 2012.
