A leading killer of young children in Ghana, diarrhoea, may have met its match with affordable and effectiveZinc tablets. Diarrhoea accounts for 10-15 percent of all child deaths in Ghana each year, and it also stunts growth, forces many children to miss weeks of schooling, and inflicts untold misery on individuals and families. If Ghana is to achieve the Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG4) of reducing child deaths by 2015, greater progress needs to be made to treat and preventdiarrhoea now. The Ghana Health Service (GHS) is dramatically increasing the supply and promotion of Zinc tablets in the nation with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), technical assistance from the USAID BCS and SHOPS Projects, and engagement of local pharmaceutical manufacturers. Dr. Isabella Sagoe-Moses, GHS National Child Health Coordinator, stated, “This public-private partnership is a major new step forward in tackling this major killer of our children.” The Ministry of Health, World Health Organization and UNICEF recommend Zinc tablets, in combination with Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS), as the best treatment for childhood diarrhoea based on years of extensive research. The research has shown that treatment of uncomplicated diarrhoea in children under five with 10 to 14 days of Zinc tablets plus ORS could avert over 20 percent of worldwide childhood deaths. Dr. Sagoe-Moses explains that, “Zinc tablets will reduce the severity of diarrhoea, stop it faster, and if the full ten-day course is taken, it will provide protection for the child from future episodes of diarrhoea for up to three months. The ORS will replace water and salts the child loses during an episode of diarrhoea, preventing dehydration. Therefore, when given together ORS plus Zinc tablets provide a one-two punch to knock out diarrhoea”. Washing hands regularly with soap under running water will also help prevent diarrhoea. Ghanaian children experience diarrhoea very frequently. According to the latest Ghana Demographic and Health Survey, about 20 percent of children under five years old experienced an episode of diarrhoea during the two-week period prior to the survey. Children between 1-2 years old are at even higher risk with one out of every three having had an episode of diarrhoea during the same period. This means that during any two-week period in Ghana, one of three children of this age will experience diarrhoea, and each individual child will experience diarrhoea multiple times in a year. Diarrhoea can cause dehydration and malnutrition. If a child becomes seriously dehydrated and/or malnourished it can be deadly. Repeated episodes also lead to chronic problems with growth and development, and can cause anaemia (low blood) in the child giving rise to other complications. Therefore, it is extremely important to treat diarrhoea quickly by replacing lost liquids and salts with ORS, giving Zinc tablets for ten days, and breastfeeding/feeding the child regularly throughout the diarrhoea episode. The vast majority of cases of childhood diarrhoea can be fully treated with ORS and Zinc tablets. No other medication is needed. If, however, there is blood in the stool or the child does not get better after three days, vomits persistently or gets sicker, take the child to a health facility for further diagnosis and treatment. It is dangerous to give other drugs to a child who has diarrhoea, unless these have been prescribed. ORS and Zinc tablets are available at pharmacies, chemical shops and health facilities throughout Ghana. Zinc tablets come in a blister pack of 10 tablets. There is a 10mg per tablet dose for children under 6 months and a 20mg per tablet dose for older children. It is completely safe when taken as directed. These Zinc tablets are specially formulated for treating diarrhoea, and are different from the zinc found in vitamin supplements, which will not treat diarrhoea as effectively.