Our Work
The Problem: Severe Acute Malnutrition
Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) is most prevalent in Sub-Saharan Africa and South Asia, where many families suffer from chronic poverty and struggle to find adequate nutritious food and lack the health and nutrition education to help them survive.
Much more serious than chronic hunger SAM is the most dangerous form of malnutrition and requires immediate treatment. Children with SAM have a very low weight-to-height ratio and can appear extremely skinny, known as “marasmus”, or very swollen, known as “kwashiorkor”. Children diagnosed with SAM are at a high risk of reduced physical and mental development, brain damage, and death if they do not receive proper medical treatment.
Our Holistic Solution
Treatment
There is an innovative yet simple cure for SAM -- a nutritionally fortified peanut butter -- called ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). With a proven efficacy of up to 95% in curing SAM, it was discovered two times as effective as treatment at a hospital.
It is locally manufactured, distributed through community clinics, and children are treated at home. It is more accessible and affordable and minimizes the disruption to income generating and other family care responsibilities typically associated with hospital-based care.
It is the standard treatment used by international aid organizations such as UNICEF and the World Health Organization.
Prevention
Health Education: When parents enroll their child in our community clinic program for SAM, they receive culturally relevant health education and one-on-one counseling from our highly skilled local nurses. They not only learn to treat SAM but also to keep their families healthier in general.
SAM Assessment Training: Parents receive training and equipment to assess children in their homes and villages for early warning signs of SAM so they can get help before malnutrition becomes severe.
Maternal Mental Health: When mothers suffer from depression and anxiety, their children’s health often suffers. In 2022 we launched a new pilot program to assess and treat maternal depression.