Knowledge, attitudes, and practices and their policy implications in childhood diarrhoea in Uganda.

A nationwide study of the knowledge, attitudes, and practices about childhood diarrhoea among health workers and mothers of children less than 5-years old was conducted in Uganda during 1987. We found that each child, on the average, has 6 episodes of diarrhoea in a year. While most parents (65%) continue with almost normal feeding practices during their children's diarrhoea, as is officially recommended, there are some foods that are traditionally withheld. The use of oral rehydration therapy in the form of a salt and sugar solution is very limited and needs to be promoted. Herbal treatment for diarrhoea is a widespread practice and needs to be studied further to ascertain its usefulness. Over 55% of mothers recognise poor hygiene as the most important cause of childhood diarrhoea. The general level of sanitation is not satisfactory and needs to be improved to achieve the widespread availability of safe water and adequate means of human waste disposal for all homes. The radio was found to be a potentially effective tool for health education, and the need to provide all health workers with continuing education about diarrhoea management was identified.