Prevention of Diarrhea

Diarrhea prevention is boring public health that works: clean water, clean hands, safe food, and two vaccines. Most episodes in India are preventable.

Water: the first line

• Drink treated water: boiled (rolling boil 1 minute), filtered, or purified - the habit that prevents the most diarrhea in India
• Store drinking water covered, in clean containers, with a dedicated ladle - the storage contaminates as often as the source
• On the road: bottled water sealed, or carry and purify - and remember ice is water too

Hands: the cheapest vaccine

• Soap and water before eating, before cooking, after the toilet, after changing diapers - the single most cost-effective health habit known
• Alcohol sanitizers help but do not replace soap for the germs that matter here (norovirus, parasites)

Food: the heat-and-peel rules

• Eat it hot, eat it peeled, or leave it: cooked food served steaming; fruits you peel yourself; raw salads and chutneys only where the kitchen is trustworthy
• Street food wisdom: choose the stall with high turnover and fresh cooking over the pretty one with pre-cut food sitting out