Community-based management programme for treatment of acute child malnutrition using the out-patient therapeutic treatment approach in Dhas district of Ethiopia.

Severe acute malnutrition remains a major killer of children under the age of five years and contributes to one million child deaths in the world each year. Until recently, the management of severe acute malnutrition has been restricted to centre-based care with limited coverage and impact. Community-based management of acute malnutrition involves timely detection of severe acute malnutrition in the community, and treatment of those without medical complications with ready-to-use therapeutic foods (RUTF) such as plumpynut at home. This study aimed to investigate the progress and the effectiveness of the CMAM project in Dhas implemented from July 2010 to December 2010 in addressing child malnutrition. A quantitative, descriptive survey was applied on 163 severely acute malnourished children aged 6-59 months admitted and treated in all health facilities in Dhas district from July 2010 to December 2010. The mean age at admission was 20 months, 35% (n=57) were below 12 months old, 57% (n=93) were below two years. About 98.2% (n=160) were new admissions. The reason for admission was low mid-upper arm circumference. The programme achieved the recovery rate of 69.9% and there were no mortalities. The recovery rate for malnutrition of admitted children was below the expected sphere standard. The defaulter rate was relatively high but there were no infant and child mortalities. The CMAM programme contributed to reduction of malnutrition and exceeded the expected outcomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]