Testing an adapted severe acute malnutrition treatment protocol in Somalia

Thee International Rescue Committee (IRC) conducted a prospective cohort study to test an adapted protocol for treating severe acute malnutrition (SAM) as outpatients in the outpatient therapeutic programme (OTP) of Karaan Clinic, Mogadishu, Benadir district, Somalia, with the aim of improving continuity of care for severe acute malnutrition (SAM) children. The adapted protocol treated SAM children until full recovery with a simplified dosage protocol. Treatment was based on the provision of ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) for children in both severe and moderate malnutrition ‘zones’, with children in the severe zone receiving weekly treatment at two RUTF sachets per day and, once in the moderate zone, two-weekly treatment at one RUTF sachet per day, based on MUAC or WHZ benchmarks (both mid-upper arm circumference (MUAC) and weight-for-height z-score (WHZ) were used as admission criteria). There was no control group.

Headline findings and some implementation experiences are shared in this article; full results will be submitted for peer review publication in 2019.