Diarrhoea diseases are of three types: Acute Watery diarrhoea (majority of cases); dysentery ( blood in the stools); and persistent diarrhoea. These diseases are one of the major health problems in the developing world a leading cause of death in children and an important contributing factor to malnutrition. In India alone, acute diarrhoea results in the death of 1.5 million children every year apart from adult mortality (Bilochi& Dutta 1993). The conditions are even worse in Orissa, as the percentage of diarrhoeal patients is the highest among the people treated for various diseases in the hospitals as per government health report for 1994. Very few people get the modern health care facility for such treatment, as there is only one hospital for every 3300 sq km and and one doctor for 2720 persons in Orissa (panda 1993). People in such a situation ordinarily resort to indigenous phytotherapeutic method of treatment, which is mainly based on plants and exists in the folklore of rural masses.

Ethnonotanical studies undertaken in some parts of Orissa (Dash & Sharma 1978; Sahoo 1986; Das & Mishra 1987; Hemadri& Rao 1989; Brahmam and Saxena 1990; Aminuddin&Girach 1993) have provided useful information about many plants. But folk medicinal study for a particular disease is rare in Orissa. This project was undertaken to survey and record the phytotherapy for diarrhoeal diseases in the Ganjam and phulbani districts of south Orissa where there is recurrence of this disease on epidemic scale every year.

Keywords: Acute Watery diarrhea, Phototherapeutic method of treatment, phototherapy for diarrhea diseases