Health | diarrhea Single Pill Can Halt Diarrhea's Deadly Reign By Drew Nelles Posted Aug 9, 2009 2:09 PM CDT Copied A child suffering from severe diarrhea is treated at a clinic of the International Medical Corps in a displaced people's camp, Monday, Nov. 3, 2008 in Kibati north of Goma in eastern Congo. (AP Photo/Karel Prinsloo) Diarrhea kills 1.6 million children under 5 every year—more than AIDS or malaria—and gets a fraction of the funding. But a deceptively simple new treatment may mark a breakthrough, Time reports. Zinc supplements appear to dramatically decrease diarrhea-related deaths—one afflicted village in Mali hasn’t had a single death since the pills arrived. Zinc “has totally taken off,” a researcher says. “It looks like real medicine and is not given out for free.” The entire treatment costs less than 30 cents, and a single dose lasts an entire season. It’s still not clear how exactly zinc fights diarrhea; the researcher suggests that zinc boosts the immune system, helping the body fight off diarrhea’s worst effects. Still, the people in charge are paying attention: several African governments have started zinc programs, and some 20 companies worldwide are manufacturing the pills. Read These Next 11 people hurt in a "brutal act of violence" in Michigan. A parent's nightmare, in a white cardboard box. We knew Letterman would pipe up about Colbert eventually. The humans survived this flight; the deer on the ground didn't. Report an error