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In an unprecedented
partnership between public health and business in Bangladesh, The
ACME Laboratories Ltd, Dhansiri and ICDDR,B launched
Baby Zinc on 23 November 2006.
Baby Zinc is a dispersible zinc tablet. Used in conjunction
with ORS (Oral Rehydration Solution) it is a life-saving treatment
for young children suffering from diarrhoea. ICDDR,B and ACME are
leading the way for introducing and expanding access to zinc.
ACME Laboratories Ltd, a leading pharmaceutical company in
Bangladesh, is producing and marketing this dispersible tablet
suitable for babies aged between six months and five years. The
10-tablet pack is available at local market at a price of Tk
17.50.
Baby Zinc will provide zinc treatment for diarrhoea for the
first-time on such a large scale: the project aims to reach the
entire under-five-year-old population of Bangladesh with
diarrhoeal illness. It has been estimated that zinc treatment
could save the lives of 30,000 to 75,000 children per year in
Bangladesh alone.
National Professor Dr MR Khan was present at the launching
programme of Baby Zinc as chief guest at the programme held at
Bangladesh-China Friendship Conference Centre in Dhaka.
Internationally acclaimed singer Runa Laila who is also a
spokeperson of the UNAIDS campaign to raise awareness among young
people in Bangladesh against HIV/AIDS, was present in the
programme as the guest of honor.
Addressing the function Dr. M.R. Khan said, "The new medicine can
save the lives of around 50,000 children per year in Bangladesh
alone." He also said every year around 94 children out of 1000
under five years die of diarrhoeal diseases in Bangladesh.
Dr Charles P Larson, head of SUZY Project and director of Health
Systems and Infectious Diseases Division (HSID) of ICDDR,B, Dr
Azaharul Islam Khan, head of SSU of Dhaka Hospital, Rafiqul Islam,
director, marketing and sales of ACME, eminent singer Runa Laila
and Shomi Kaiser, managing director of Dhansiri Media Production
House, also spoke at the function.
Later, the guest of honor unveiled the media campaign for Baby
Zinc. Dhansiri, a Bangladeshi advertising company, is conducting
the mass media campaign.
This world-first launch of a dispersible zinc tablet for the
treatment of diarrhoea is a model of a multi-sectoral partnership.
After many years of research, ICDDR,B showed that giving children
a small, dispersible tablet of zinc has great positive effects in
the treatment of diarrhoea. As a result, the Bill and Melinda
Gates Foundation funded the ambitious SUZY project to make zinc
available to the general population of Bangladesh. The production
of Baby Zinc required a technology transfer from Nutriset-Roedel
to The ACME Pharmaceuticals Ltd in order to make the tablets
dispersible, and great support from the Ministry of Health and
Family Welfare, the Directorate General of Health Services
(Bangladesh) and the Bangladesh Pediatrics Association to issue a
policy statement to include zinc in the treatment of childhood
diarrhoea.
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