COMBAT DIARRHOEA

Diarrhoea is a major cause of death in Thailand. About 3 million people die per year, including 1,9million children.
To combat this problem a simple and inexpensive treatment was developed that helps the hydration of the victims. To do this simply dissolve a large pinch of salt and a fistful of sugar in a jug of clean water.
This medicine was the first put to the test during a cholera outbreak among refugees on India's border with Bangladesh in 1971, and has saved the lives of more than 40 million children.
Although simple, this medicine isn’t used by all of the children who need it: there are no health conditions, parents don’t learn to do it at home because sachets of the powdered mix require packaging, storage and distribution. The treatment doesn’t reduce initially a child’s stool output, leading some parents to conclude that it doesn't work, and give up. In developed countries diarrhoea is not a “disease” because it doesn’t kill, it’s just “uncomfortable”.
Despite being the cause of death of about 1 / 3 of children, the government doesn’t support the distribution of its drug, due to other diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria diseases that are more advertised, attracting more interest and money.


According to Wandee Varavithya a doctor who has treated diarrhoeal diseases for nearly 40 years in Thailand:
"This problem isn't getting the attention it deserves".

SAND FILTERS

According to the proposed subject, we are pretending to develop a prototype of one of these filters in a way that can be used in underdeveloped countries.
This filter will be built using low cost materials and high accessibility with the purpose that anyone on these countries can have one.
The purpose of this sand filters is to avoid the dissemination of illnesses by the pathogenic agents existent in water. The filter will be capable of remove the bacterial agents and solid particles in suspension. About heavy metals there is no way to remove these materials because the necessary instruments are very expensive and not very accessible.
We hope this filter will be capable of reduce the mortality rate associated to the dissemination of illness by bacterial agents. However, and because of pollution, there is no way to stop the spreading of these diseases because of the existence of heavy metals and other substances in water. Even with all this adverse conditions we hope we can make a good job in order to help poorest populations.

MICROCREDIT

The use of microcredit system in developing countries is a very good way of fighting against poverty. Though they are insufficient, the increasing number of microcredit institutions acting among the vulnerable population helped to prevent thousands of people of becoming poor. This economic system is based on low cost loans associated with technical support on job creation and business maintenance, and on sanitary and nutritional education.
The loan return is substantially high and women have become the focus of many microcredit institutions and agencies worldwide.