April 13, 2007

Tanzania has become the first country in Africa to introduce zinc as a treatment for childhood diarrhea. PedZinc, a brand manufactured and distributed by Shelys Pharmaceuticals, will be made available throughout all pharmacies in Tanzania at affordable prices.

Childhood diarrhea is among the major causes of child mortality in Tanzania. A World Health Organization report of 2006 reveals that 17% of childhood mortality is caused by diarrhea. Improved diarrhea case management can help continue the decrease in childhood mortality in Tanzania, which fell from 147/1000 in 1999 to 112/1000 in 2004.

In May 2004, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) issued a joint statement recommending the use of zinc and a new formulation of oral rehydration salt (ORS) with reduced levels of glucose and salt, as a two-pronged approach to improved case management of acute diarrhea in children. Dispersible zinc tablets, which dissolve easily in a tablespoon of clean water or breast milk, can be used for zinc supplementation for children aged one to 59 months. WHO and UNICEF recommend 20mg of zinc per day for 10-14 days for children older than 6 months and 10mg of Zinc per day for infants under 6 months of age.

PedZinc is packaged in a blister pack of ten 20mg tablets as per the WHO/UNICEF treatment guidelines. The product will be made available to all pharmacies and will be retailing at Tshs 400 for a full dose.

The introduction of PedZinc is part of a public private sector partnership initiative that focuses on leveraging the private sector platform to produce, market and distribute affordable quality health products that are easily accessibly by key populations nationally, especially those living in underserved and difficult to reach regions.

As part of its promotional activities, Shelys will hold service provider workshops targeting the healthcare workers and in particular pharmacists, doctors, nurses and medical detailers. These workshops will be used to update these groups on introducing zinc as the new treatment guidelines for diarrhea. A consumer awareness campaign will also be integrated with caretakers targeted through clinic meetings, community mobilization and development of IEC materials.

During the Stakeholder launch at Dar es Salaam, the Guest of Honor, Prof. Joseph Kahamba (Former President – Medical Association of Tanzania) appreciated the steps taken by Shelys Pharmaceuticals in reducing the child mortality due to diarrhea in Tanzania, with the launch of PedZinc tablets.

Umesh Rivankar, Head-Marketing for Shelys says “with this launch, we hope that the private sector can play an important role in reducing child mortality rates. We shall strive to ensure that our product is widely available and is affordable to all”.

For further information contact:
Sanjeev Sarkar
Manager - Product Management & Market Coordinator
Shelys Pharmaceutical
Tel: 0784-800520
Email : sanjeev@sumariagroup.com