OFDA Quarterly NUTRITION REPORT – January to March 2015

A total of 1,189 children under five were treated for severe acute malnutrition (SAM), and 3,057 children under five were treated for moderate acute malnutrition (MAM). Additionally, 2,564 pregnant and lactating women (PLWs) were treated for MAM. The program expanded its nutrition activities to ten nutrition sites implementing Outpatient Therapeutic Program (OTP), Targeted Supplementary Program (TSFP) for children under five years old, and pregnant and lactating women (PLWs), in six out of eight Payam in Koch County and Unity State. One Stabilization Centre (SC) was also opened in KuachLual Payam (Koch County Hospital-to-be). Community nutrition volunteers and Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) coordinators continued screening children under the age of five and PLWs in the community using MUAC tapes. A total of 1,189 cases of children with severe malnutrition were admitted into the Outpatient Program (OTP). The planned target was to open eight nutrition centers, but a World Relief SMART Survey 2014 showed a SAM rate of 2.8% with a recommendation of expansion of nutrition activities. Field observations of poor nutritional status and inadequate household food security coupled with screening reports conducted in areas without nutrition sites showed a need to expand the project to ten nutrition sites. The OTP performance during the January to March 2015 quarter showed that 96.4% of children under the age of five who were exited from the OTP program were cured, 3.2% defaulted, 0.1% died, and 0.4% were non-responsive. The default rate for children continued to be observed, with the highest default cases recorded in Beith in March 2015. A potential explanation can be attributed to the food distribution that was taking place in Koch, which caused many to travel to Koch for food distribution and miss OTP distribution. The Stabilization Centre (SC) is a centre where malnourished children who have medical complications are admitted. This quarter, the Koch SC is open and has admitted 11 children with severe malnutrition with medical complications. Pending security, the second SC in Boaw will soon be open, bringing about the 11 planned nutrition sites. The Targeted Supplementary Feeding Program (TSFP) continued to get support from WFP in terms of supplies, and a total of 3,057 children under the age of five with moderate acute malnutrition (MAM) were admitted in the program during the period of January to March 2015. The TSFP performance during the January to March 2015 quarter showed that 96.7% of children under the age of five who were exited from the TSFP program were cured, 2.9% defaulted, 0.0% died, and 0.4% were non-responsive. Pregnant and Lactating Women (PLW) admissions to the TSFP program during the January to March 2015 quarter showed a total of 2,564 PLW with MUAC less than 21 cm were admitted into the program. The PLW's recorded a 100% cure rate and no defaults, deaths, or non-respondents occurred among PLWs in the program. Mass Community Awareness Education was conducted in this quarter, with a total of 11,924 community members attending education awareness sessions. The topics and locations where community awareness was conducted and the number of community members who attended the awareness sessions are as follows: breastfeeding and complementary feeding, balance diet and good nutrition, immunization, control of diarrheal disease, malaria, hygiene and sanitation, and HIV/AIDS. Three trainings targeting health care providers were conducted in this quarter: Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (Inpatients) attended by 8 participants, Integrated Infant and Young Children Feeding (IYCF) attended by 40 participants, and Mother to Mother Support Group (MtMSG) attended by 40 participants.