Listen to Story In 1971, Kolkata-based pediatrician Dr Dilip Mahalanabis concocted a simple formula of salt, sugar, and clean water as a treatment to cure diarrhea during the devastating cholera outbreak amid the Bangladesh War of Independence. While there was a deficiency of saline solution, a common treatment for diarrhea in those days which was given as an IV solution, Dr Mahalanabis implemented his formula to treat cholera. This simple solution which increases water absorption in the body saved millions of lives, especially since cholera causes severe diarrhea .
During this time, he also carried out studies in Oral Rehydration Therapy at the John Hopkins University International Centre for Medical Research and Training in Kolkata. This therapy provides fluid through the mouth to prevent or correct dehydration caused by diarrhea. In Bangladesh, Dr Mahalanabis gave out a mixture of table salt, baking soda and glucose with clean drinking water, reducing the number of cholera deaths.
ORS contains a formula of sodium chloride, glucose, potassium, and citrate in specific doses. According to a report in the Lancet, many people in refugee camps recovered with this treatment. "Subsequently, his approach of diarrhea management has been adopted and implemented by WHO globally," Shanta Dutta, ICMR-National Institute of Cholera and Enteric Diseases told The Lancet Infectious Diseases.
In a span of three decades, Dr Mahalanabis' Oral Rehydration Solution saved nearly 54 million lives p.