Setting Research Priorities to Reduce Mortality and Morbidity of Childhood Diarrhoeal Disease in the Next 15 Years: e1001446

For diarrhoeal disease in particular, coverage indicators for key preventive and curative interventions remain suboptimal, suggesting that efforts to reduce diarrhoea-related child deaths by two-thirds have stalled [4],[5],[9]-[14]. [...]although deaths have declined globally, the proportion of decline has been greater in high-income countries, suggesting that significant inequities between the developed and developing countries have persisted [6]. [...]diarrhoeal illness in early childhood is associated with long-term adverse cognitive effects and decreased work productivity later in life [15]. The previous Countdown Report, published in 2008, combined data for ORS and ORS with continued feeding, reporting a median coverage of 38% with a range of 7%-76% [9]. [...]coverage indicators for diarrhoea treatment have not progressed over the past four years.\n This exercise represents an important effort to assist policy-makers in identifying research gaps and resource priorities in childhood global diarrhoeal disease.