As the first rays of sunlight signal the beginning of a new workday for the bustling fishing villages outside of Karachi, Pakistan, community health workers also ready themselves to treat children suffering from killer diseases that go virtually unnoticed in the media — enteric and diarrheal illnesses.
For children across South Asia, enteric and diarrheal diseases continue to be a major cause of mortality and illness in children under the age of 5. At the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation — where I work — we talk a lot about these intestinal or enteric diseases. It is how I both start and end my workday. It is the image of sick children and their distressed mothers that keep me focused on preventing illness, and death, from these diseases.
Enteric and diarrheal diseases are associated with a variety of illnesses: severe watery diarrhea; inflammation of the intestinal lining that can lead to dysentery, or leakiness of the gut lining; and a bacterial invasion from the gut that causes typhoid fever.
About the author
Dr. Anita Zaidi
Dr. Anita Zaidi is the president of the Gender Equality Division at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In this role, Anita oversees the foundation’s efforts to achieve gender equality by integrating gender across the foundation’s global work and investing in women’s economic empowerment, women’s leadership, and removing the barriers for women and girls to thrive. Previously, Zaidi was the department chair of Pediatrics and Child Health at the Aga Khan University in Karachi, Pakistan, where she worked to reduce child mortality through the prevention and treatment of illness.