ORS / ORT at the heart of new Unicef campaign

Unicef ORS sachets
My neighbour and ColaLife fan, Ruth, came around this morning with a mailshot she’d received from Unicef. She’s a Unicef supporter. Oral Rehydration Therapy (ORT) and Oral Rehydration Salts (ORS) were at the heart of the Unicef campaign, helping to make the point that so much can be done with so little money.

The leaflet that came with the Unicef letter had a great set of before and after pictures:


Images by Unicef

There are more before and after photos in a previous post.

As well as the leaflet, the mailshot included an empty ORS sachet. The ingredients are:

  • Glucose anhydrous (Food Grade) 13.5 g
  • Sodium chloride BP 98 2.6 g
  • Trisodium citrate dihydrate BP 98 2.9 g
  • Potassium chloride BP 98 1.5 g
  • Total net weight: 20.5 g

This is sufficient to make up one litre of solution which is sufficient for an infant for 24 hours but the treatment must continue until the diarrohoea stops. Older children will drink one litre over an 8 to 24 hour period.

Actual size scans of the sachets are shown below: