The three-day 14th Asian Conference on Diarrhoeal Disease and Nutrition (ASCODD) began in Kochi, India yesterday offering a platform to the participating researchers and scientists from 14 countries to discuss and seek out solutions to the pressing public health challenges of diarrhoeal illness and malnutrition through innovative scientific research, reports UNB.

About 300 participants, including 60 scientists, registered from the countries, including the UK, the US, Bangladesh, Germany, India, France and Sweden, will present papers and lead discussions in 10 sessions under the theme of "Saving lives: innovations and solutions for diarrhoeal diseases, enteric fever and malnutrition".

On the opening day, icddr,b's executive director Prof John D Clemens presented the keynote lecture titled "Prevention of cholera" that highlighted the history of cholera vaccine development and how icddr,b helped develop a low-cost cholera vaccine which is very effective. Dr Firdausi Qadri, Emeritus Scientist and Acting Senior Director of icddr,b, who was declared as the next president of ASCODD briefed about the world's second largest oral cholera vaccine campaign in Cox's Bazar in which icddr,b has played a key role in administration of about 700,000 doses of oral cholera vaccine to the Rohingyas, comprised of men, women and children, aged one and above.