Child survival revolution

In 1980, 14 million young children were dying every year in low-income countries – and diarrheal diseases led the count with three million deaths each year.

Trials had recently shown that 70 percent of diarrhea deaths could be prevented with oral rehydration solution (ORS), a simple sugar-and-salt measure that cost pennies. But the treatment was largely unknown in low-income countries, and no major program had taken it on as a singular cause.

Jim Grant became the first high-profile leader to champion ORS. To the chagrin of many of his colleagues, he set a goal that ORS should be available to at least half the families in the developing world within a few years. Read to learn more about Grant’s work against diarrheal disease.