GENEVA, October 14, 2009 (AFP) - Diarrhea still claims the lives of 1.5 million children under the age of five a year, UN agencies warned Wednesday, as they launched a new campaign against the ailment.

"It is a tragedy that diarrhea, which is little more than an inconvenience in the developed world, kills an estimated 1.5 million children each year," said Ann Veneman, executive director of the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF)

"Inexpensive and effective treatments for diarrhea exist, but in developing countries only 39 per cent of children with diarrhea receive the recommended treatment," she added.

Close to 18 percent of all deaths among children under five are due to diarrhea, largely caused by contaminated water and infections, said Olivier Fontaine, the World Health Organization's expert on children's health.

UNICEF and the World Health Organisation on Thursday launched a seven-point plan to prevent and treat diarrhea, including replacing body fluids to prevent dehydration, zinc treatment, promotion of early breastfeeding, and promotion of hand washing with soap.

According to the WHO, 50 million children have been saved thanks to the low cost treatment of oral rehydration salts, a treatment that has been available for the past 25 years.

The simple act of hand washing with soap can reduce the incidence of diarrheal diseases by over 40 percent, added UNICEF.

"The problem of access has not improved because diarrhea has become a disease neglected by donor countries," said Fontaine.

Meanwhile, poor countries acknowledge that it is a key problem but "prefer to allocate funds they receive to other diseases," she added.