Since 1988, within the framework of the national programme for the fight against diarrhoeal diseases in children in Vietnam, the paedriatric hospital number one of Ho Chi Minh City has developed a unit for treatment of diarrhoea which has become a reference centre for the south of Vietnam. The unit for treatment has developed an integrated approach for caring for dirrhoea in newborns, insisting on oral rehydration, non-prescription antibiotics, improving nutritional status, and education of parents which not only aims to allow for a more effective treatment of sick children, but also to increase the principles of prevention and care in the community. The results of this programme are spectacular in terms of reduction of its lethalness and the decrease in hospitalisations toward out-patient care. The unit for treatment of diarrhoea, which has become a collaborating centre of WHO, is also a tool for training health personnel in the south of Vietnam and a centre for clinical, epidemiological, economic and evaluative research of diarrhoea in children.