Diarrhoea kills nearly 10,000 Afghan children annually - Some tips to prevent the disease

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New Delhi: Diarrhoea kills at least 26 kids daily in Afghanistan with the total number of dead reaching 9,500 in a year, says a Unicef report.

'Diarrhoea-related deaths, which now total 9,500, account for around 12 percent of the 80,000 deaths of children under the age of five that occur annually in Afghanistan,' a Unicef statement read.

'Using a toilet and washing your hands is literally a matter of life or death and deaths from diarrhoea are particularly tragic because in most cases they can be easily avoided,' said a Unicef representative in Afghanistan.

Diarrhoea usually occurs when fluid can't be absorbed from the contents of your bowel or when extra fluid is secreted into your bowel, causing watery poo.

Diarrhoea is usually a symptom of a bowel infection (gastroenteritis) which can be caused by a virus, bacteria or parasite.

Here are some of the prevention tips:

• Wash your hands with soap
• Consume safe drinking water
• Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life;
• Good personal and food hygiene;
• Health education about how infections spread; and.
• Rotavirus vaccination.