Chelsea Clinton was in Nigeria on Tuesday to help launch an
initiative linked to her father's foundation aimed at reducing deaths of
children and mothers due to diarrhoea and other preventable diseases.
The daughter of former US president Bill Clinton
and current US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton helped launch the
programme in the capital Abuja along with Nigerian President Goodluck
Jonathan and others.
Chelsea Clinton is a board member of the Clinton Health Access Initiative.
"An estimated one million mothers and children die
each year in Nigeria from preventable diseases, including 100,000
deaths due to diarrhea," a statement from the Clinton Foundation said.
A range of companies and organisations have signed
on to the effort that will mainly focus on increasing access to zinc
and oral rehydration solutions (ORS), which the foundation said was "the
most effective diarrhea treatment."
"Increasing the percent of children with diarrhea
who receive ORS and zinc to 80 percent by 2015 could help prevent
220,000 Nigerian children from dying," it said.
"Zinc and ORS can prevent over 90 percent of
diarrhea-related deaths and cost less than $0.50, yet less than two
percent of children in the country are currently using the complete
treatment."
Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation and largest oil producer, but most residents live on less than $2 per day.
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