Academy for Educational Development

Nearly six million children under age five die every year as a direct or indirect result of malnutrition. During famine, drought, or prolonged conflicts like the one raging in Darfur, Sudan, one of the most urgent challenges can be to prevent large numbers of children from dying of acute malnutrition. 











In emergency situations, severe acutely malnourished children are normally treated in hospitals or feeding centers. Mothers have to remain with them during treatment, often leaving other children at home and diminishing the family’s income. But most of these children go without treatment because their families don’t have access to a treatment center. 












Treating medically uncomplicated cases of malnutrition at home through an approach known as community-based therapeutic care can be effective and reach more children.  Severely malnourished children often have weakened immune systems, which makes them more vulnerable to infections that are common in hospital-like settings. Homebased or community treatment reduces the risk of these infections and reduces “drop out” from treatment. 











With funding from USAID, the AED Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance Project (FANTA) is supporting the expansion and refinement of these programs being implemented with Valid International, Concern Worldwide, and other partners in Sudan, Ethiopia, and Malawi. In addition, FANTA is working with WHO and UNICEF to adapt the community-based therapeutic care approach for use by governments of other emergency-affected countries. 












The home-based program provides caregivers with nutritional information and specially prepared, ready-to-eat therapeutic foods that are essential in the treatment of malnourished children. One of the fortified foods that has gained worldwide attention is a nutrient-dense peanut butter paste, called Plumpy’nut?, which contains the right mix of nutrients for the recovering child.  Community-based therapeutic care supports local production of such special foods using different local ingredients. 











“Training and enabling families and local health workers to treat malnutrition at home prevents the malnutrition from becoming too complex or severe,” said Bruce Cogill, director of FANTA. “Community leaders and parents are able to see results quickly and become more engaged in implementing these programs.”












As Cogill also noted, community-based therapeutic care has had great success not only in treating malnourished children, but also in actively involving communities in identifying the signs of malnutrition, resulting in many children’s lives being saved. —Heather Finnegan

---

For more information, please visit the emergency nutrition section of the AED Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance project Web site at www.fantaproject.org.