[Preparing ourselves for cholera: a rapid evaluation of the quality of oral rehydration activities in Guatemala].

The directorate of the North Health Area of Guatemala along with the National Nutrition Institute of Centroamérica and Panama in 1991 carried out a rapid evaluation of the quality of care provided to the population for oral rehydration, acute diarrhea and cholera. The purpose was to collect data to facilitate the implementation of efficacious activities to improve quality and optimize the use of resources. The current article contains the results of the evaluation of twenty health centers of the North Health Area of Guatemala, and the consequent activities to improve the process of care. The main failures in performance where: deficient distribution of inputs; errors in the performance of physical exams of the children in the determination of the severity of dehydration; poor use of antibiotics and in the treatment of those with severe dehydration; and specially the failure to educate the mother about the proper feeding for a sick child. The delivery of inputs improved as a outcome of the actions product of the evaluation. Another activity was a workshop, combining theory and practice, of the treatment of cholera. Currently, local authorities prepare and carry out longer term interventions taking into account the results of the evaluation.