ElectricAid supporting GOAL in the fight against hunger
MUAC Tape, (Mid-Upper Arm Circumference Tape) is used in the detection and referral of children with acute malnutrition. Using a colour coded system, MUAC Tape will identify Severe Acute Malnutrition, (SAM) Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) Growth Promotion & Monitoring (GPM) or if a child is well nourished.
Small, practical and inexpensive, distribution of 6,500 MUAC tapes by GOAL is just one of the deliverables achieved in one of GOALs latest projects supported by ElectricAid covering Ethiopia, (Gambella Region, Terkidi and Kule Refugee Camps) South Sudan, (Upper Nile State, Ulang County) and Malawi, (Lower Shire Valley, Nsanje and Chickwawa County)
With increasing numbers of children arriving at medical facilities in a critical condition due to late diagnosis of malnutrition, GOAL set about equipping mothers and primary carers with MUAC Tapes and the guidance to measure childhood thinness on a regular basis to identify a decline in weight before malnutrition occurs.
The Mothers Understand and Can Do MUAC approach was first piloted by ALIMA in Niger in 2013-2014 (funded by ECHO) and supported by UNICEF. The Mothers Understand and Can do MUAC approach is now a widely recognised approach with huge potential to improve malnutrition outcomes globally. The initiative worked through a cascade method, whereby mothers were brought together and trained on how to check for malnutrition related oedema and how to take MUAC measurements of their children aged between 6-59 months. Mothers can then check their children at home.
GOAL engaged 3 country programs to implement the ‘Mothers Understand and Can Do MUAC’ project. Teams trained 5,513 South Sudanese refugee mothers in, 400 mothers in Malawi and 600 mothers in South on, what is acute malnutrition, how to identify it using a MUAC tape, how to check for Kwashiorkor (oedematous malnutrition) and what to do if the child is identified ‘at risk’ or already suffering from moderate/severe acute malnutrition. By shifting the screening for acute malnutrition from health workers to community members themselves children arrive at health centres in a less critical state. Early case detection also means more children are treated successfully in less time, with a positive knock on effect reducing the cost of therapeutic treatment and the demand on resources. The programme also empowers families, especially women to take greater control over their children’s health status.
These positive outcomes combine to create a virtuous cycle and consequently reduce morbidity and mortality associated with malnutrition, also inadvertently contributing to a reduction in chronic malnutrition, where cyclical episodes of severe acute malnutrition can be averted. Overall, the project was deemed to be highly successful and directly addresses UN Sustainable Development Goals number 2 (Zero Hunger) and number 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing) thank you once again to our generous donors – without your support this – and many more ElectricAid projects simply wouldn’t happen.
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