Diarrhoeal diseases---how Costa Rica won

Abstract

The progress made by Costa Rica in overcoming diarrhoeal diseases may be instructive to health authorities in other countries. During the early pan of the century, Costa Rica; hie most developing nations, had a very high mortality attributable to diarrhoeal diseases. The death rate from this cause for the country as a whole was of the order of 400 per 100 000. The high rates recorded in the quinquenium 1928-32 are comparable to those observed in modern times in several Asian and African nations that are seriously affected by malnutrition and poverty.