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Point-Of-Use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment Project (POUZN)

The Point-Of-Use Water Disinfection and Zinc Treatment Project (POUZN) aims to reduce one of the leading causes of illness and death among children worldwide—diarrhea—via two proven methods: preventing diarrhea by disinfecting water at its point-of-use, and treating diarrhea with zinc therapy.

To encourage the availability and sustained use of these two interventions among caregivers of children, AED/POUZN collaborates with private-sector organizations to implement projects rapidly and at scale. By leveraging the resources of the private sector in marketing these life-saving products, advocating for regulations that facilitate their use, and mobilizing community-based organizations, POUZN is creating sustainable local capacity that reaches the most vulnerable populations.

Safe Drinking Water at the Point-of-Use

Water treatment at the point-of-use (POU), such as at households or schools, has been found to reduce diarrhea caused by waterborne pathogens by 30 to 50 percent. POU water disinfection makes contaminated water safe to drink through methods such as filtration, boiling, radiation, or chemical treatment. POUZN creates sustainable partnerships to make a variety of POU devices available and affordable to low-income families and communities.

In June, 2010 Camille Saadé, Director of the POUZN Project, presented "Leveraging NGO Partnerships to Scale POU Interventions" at the Global Health Council's 37th Annual International Conference in Washington, D.C. Click here to view the full presentation.

Also available is the June 2010 India Lessons Learned report, Public-Private Model for Point-of-Use Water Disinfection Among Lower Income Households.

Zinc Treatment to Prevent and Treat Diarrhea

Zinc and ORT have been endorsed by the World Health Organization and UNICEF and local medical associations, as the rational treatment for childhood diarrhea. Numerous studies have demonstrated that zinc therapy given for 10 to 14 days not only reduces the duration and severity of the diarrhea, but also has a preventive effect against its recurrence. POUZN's approach ensures that the rational treatment of diarrhea is promoted and that multiple forms of zinc are available to health providers and children's caregivers.

In March 2010, POUZN released a comprehensive "Lessons Learned" paper entitled, "Treating Childhood Diarrhea in India Using ORT and Zinc: Engaging the Pharmaceutical Industry and Private Providers."

Click here to read the April 2010 "Lessons Learned" study for the introduction of zinc in Indonesia.

Quickly Bringing Programs to Scale in a Sustainable Manner

POUZN mobilized some of India's largest pharmaceutical companies to promote zinc treatment in all 29 states and to over 75,000 GPs and pediatricians. These numbers are projected to increase, buoyed by an increasing number of partner companies that will continue to promote zinc to more health professionals and drug retailers across the country.

In Tanzania, POUZN collaborated with Shelys Pharmaceuticals to develop, launch and create demand for the first-ever brand of zinc for the treatment of diarrhea in Africa. The product is affordably priced to encourage widespread use.

In Indonesia, zinc treatment brands were launched and distributed nationwide in less than a year from the inception of POUZN efforts to increase private-sector supply and create demand for zinc treatment.

Leveraging Significant Private Sector Resources - Cost-Effectively

Every $1 of USAID investment in POUZN/India has leveraged $5 of Indian commercial partners' investment in zinc product detailing, promotional materials, training, distribution, market research, and PR.

Forging Multifaceted Public-Private Partnerships

In addition to commercial partners covering the private market in India, POUZN is collaborating with the central and state governments, the Indian Academy of Pediatrics, local federations of NGOs, a parastatal manufacturer of zinc, and UNICEF to ensure public sector provision of zinc treatment.

The advocacy work of POUZN and other partners led the Tanzanian government to add zinc treatment to its essential drugs list, thus paving the way for zinc treatment to be procured for all public sector hospitals and health posts in 2008.

The government of Indonesia, following intense advocacy efforts from POUZN and the Pediatric Society of Indonesia, has changed its Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) guidelines to include zinc treatment for diarrhea. POUZN successfully advocated with the Food and Drug Authority to allow fast tracking of zinc registration.

Using Microfinance to Sustainably Reach Underserved Populations

In Uttar Pradesh, India's most populous state, POUZN is working with NGOs to introduce POU methods including boiling, solar disinfection, chlorine and POU devices to the urban and rural poor. Because of the capital outlay required to purchase a water filter, POUZN has engaged manufacturers in extending the distribution of their products, and brought in micro-finance organizations to provide small loans to their clients (women self-help groups) so that they can purchase the POU water treatment devices. Private sector organizations are planning an independent extension of this project to other regions of India.

Contacts

For more information:

POUZN Brochure (340 KB, PDF)

Recent POUZN News:

CPSHI Convenes Meeting of Key POUZN players on Scaling Up Zinc with ORT/ORS in Children

POUZN Project Releases New Zinc Treatment "Lessons Learned" Report for Tanzania

POUZN Project Releases New POU "Lessons Learned" Report for India

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