The World Health Organization’s expert advisory panel on immunizations announced today that all children should receive a vaccine that can prevent a severe type of diarrhea and vomiting caused by the rotavirus.

Every year, 600,000 children die from severe diarrhea caused by rotavirus around the world.  Although most of these deaths occur in developing countries, rotavirus also afflicts children in the developed world.  In the United States, 55,000 children are hospitalized because of rotavirus infections every year. 

Research to determine whether the rotavirus vaccine is safe and effective in countries with high child mortality has proven successful: cases of severe diarrhea were reduced after administration of the vaccine.  Funded by the GAVI Alliance, and conducted by PATH, WHO, and GlaxoSmithKline, as well as many research institutions in South Africa and Malawi, this research “clears the way for vaccines that will protect children in the developing world from one of the most deadly diseases they face,” said Dr. Tachi Yamada, President of the Global Health Program at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

As one of the diseases that causes the greatest number of deaths and illness in the developing world but receives little attention and resources, the prevention and treatment of diarrheal diseases is a priority area for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.  Their work involves funding research to determine the causes of diarrheal disease in developing countries, supporting the development of a vaccine, including the rotavirus vaccine, and efforts to develop medicines and other treatments for diarrheal disease.

Delivering the rotavirus vaccine with a package of other essential interventions including improving water and sanitation to children in need in Africa and Asia will be critical for reducing child mortality.

<em>-Lisa Fleisher</em>

Years ago, I lost my newborn son to an infection for want of a readily available antibiotic. No child should suffer this fate. Yet, every year, nearly 10 million children under the age of 5 die from completely preventable causes.

It doesn’t have to be like this. We have the power to save these children’s lives.

There is a bill in Congress right now that would provide some of the much needed money to save these children, but it’s currently at a standstill. In order to move, the bill desperately needs the political support that ONE members like you and me can bring to bear.

Please send a message to your member of Congress to support the U.S. Commitment to Global Child Survival Act and build support for this desperately needed life-saving bill.

These children die from a variety of causes, from pneumonia to malnutrition and diarrhea. For us, diarrhea is a nuisance. For a child in the developing world, it is a death sentence. In 2007 it is estimated that 1.8 million children will die from dehydration due to diarrhea. In many cases, all that it takes to re-hydrate these children to save their lives is a handful of sugar, a bottle of clean water, and a pinch of salt.

Sadly, there is one more ingredient needed to save these children: the will to do it. The Global Child Survival Act is an expression of that will. It would dramatically scale up funding for effective and affordable child and maternal health programs and it would require the government to develop a comprehensive plan for improving children’s health around the world.

Please write both your senators and representative and let them know that you want them to do their part and help move this bill forward.

Right now while Congress is in recess, some of us have been going on lobbying visits to our local congressional offices, and talking about the Global Child Survival Act. That’s been a great step forward, but we all can do more. If you send a message now, you’ll drive home the message we have been delivering in person, so that when Congress reconvenes in September, the Global Child Survival Act will be high on the list of priorities.

Thank you. I can’t tell you how much your support means to me.

Stay close,

Sammi, Seattle, WA, ONE member