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	MSF calls for community management of acute malnutrition after new evidence shows high cure rates by Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) India   Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) recently published evidence from its community-based management of acute malnutrition (CMAM) programme in Bihar, which revealed that it has successfully achieved a cure rate of 88.4% among severely acute malnourished children who completed their treatment.   This conclusion was part of a study entitled, ‘Community-Based Management of Severe Acute Malnutrition in India: New evidence from Bihar,’ which was published on April 1, 2015 in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, the world’s highest ranked peer-reviewed medical journal in the field of nutrition.   This observational analysis was conducted by MSF in collaboration with Darbhanga Medical College Hospital, and is based on results from the CMAM programme that has been operational in Bihar’s Darbhanga district since 2009.   Treatment for severe acute malnutrition is a lengthy process, taking on average seven weeks. As such, outpatient treatment that allows the child to remain at home with only weekly visits to the treatment centre (unless critically unwell), makes it much easier for caregivers to manage than lengthy stays in the hospital.   The study details the results obtained between February 2009 and September 2011, during which time a total of 8,274 children aged 6-59 months old suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) were admitted into the CMAM programme.   “Of the total number of children, 87.3% belonged to socially and economically marginalised communities and households; 79.9% were between 6 months and 2 years old, and 62.2% were girls. These results suggest that severe malnutrition affects the most vulnerable groups in society,” said Dr Prince Mathews, one of the authors of the publication.   The study also revealed that the majority (90.7%) of severely malnourished children did not suffer from other opportunistic diseases, and were therefore treated as outpatients in basic community health centres using an Indian manufactured, WHO-standard, therapeutic paste. The minority of children with medical complications were treated as inpatients using therapeutic milk until they were fit to resume treatment in the community.   Similar to existing hospital-based treatments, CMAM was hindered by a substantial default rate of 38%. However, the conclusions of the study indicate that low mortality and high cure rates in severely malnourished children who complete their treatment can be achieved by implementing a community-based model of care.   When children suffer from acute malnutrition, their immune systems are impaired and they are more susceptible to complications from common childhood diseases, such as a respiratory infection or diseases of the digestive system. By identifying and treating them as soon as possible, a great majority of malnourished children are treated before medical complications develop, in outpatient nutrition centres not too far from their homes.   With an estimated 8.1 million under-5-years-old SAM children (NFHS-3) in India, MSF calls upon authorities to implement and scale up community-based management initiatives within the public health system in order to save more lives and reduce the burden of acute malnutrition in India.   http://www.msf.org/article/india-msf-calls-community-management-acute-malnutrition-after-new-evidence-shows-high-cure Visit the related web page
	66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry by SUN, WFP, Feeding America, agencies   Mar 2015   Gambia celebrates International School Meals Day. (Scaling Up Nutrition)   On 5 March 2015, The Gambia held an event to recognise International School Meals Day as part of the world wide commemoration. The celebration raised awareness on the importance of food and nutrition in education, as well as to share school feeding experiences from across the globe. The event was held at the GOVI school in Kanifing and brought together multiple stakeholders including government officials, international partners, school children, the school nutrition association and representatives from United Nations organisations FAO, WFP and UNAIDS.   The executive director of the National Nutrition Agency and SUN Government Focal Point, Modou Cheyanssin Phall, said “School meals enhance social protection and is a safety net for communities, as it relieves hunger and contributes to better learning, increases enrolment, reduces absenteeism and enhances progressions from one grade to the next thus enabling children to achieve their full potential”.   http://scalingupnutrition.org/news http://scalingupnutrition.org/the-sun-network/civil-society-network http://scalingupnutrition.org/news/unscn-nutition-and-the-post-2015-sustainable-development-goals http://scalingupnutrition.org/about/financial-tracking-resource-mobilization/budget-analysis http://www.interaction.org/blog/multi-purpose-nutrition-indicators-measuring-progress-comprehensive-post-2015-development   World Food Programme - School Meals   As the largest humanitarian provider of school meals worldwide, WFP, with governments and partners, supports education, reduces malnutrition, and promotes development, especially during times of crisis and emergency.   Nearly all countries around the world have a school feeding programme and at least 368 million children from kindergarten to secondary school receive food at school every day. Governments recognize school feeding as an essential tool for the development and growth of children, communities, and society as a whole.   WFP provides school meals to more than 20 million children every year. But many more children do not benefit from school feeding, and in countries with the highest poverty rates where school meals would make a big difference, the reach of school meal programmes is far smaller.   In our efforts to create a world where educational and nutritional opportunities reach the hungry poor, schools are critical. It’s where we lay the foundation for future generations to grow and thrive.   What is School Feeding?   School programmes includes meals for students and high-energy biscuits or snacks at school or others that provide take-home rations to families with children who attend school regularly.   A meal at school acts as a magnet to get children into the classroom. Continuing to provide a daily meal to children helps to keep them in school. The benefits of school feeding extend beyond the classroom:   Safety Nets: School meals help families to educate their children and protect their food security in times of crisis. School meals support development so children can become healthy and productive adults, breaking the cycle of hunger and poverty in the world’s most vulnerable areas.   Nutrition: In poor countries, school meals are often the only regular and nutritious meals a child receives. They are an investment in the child’s future. Without them, hunger and micronutrient deficiencies can cause irreversible damage to their growing bodies. When school meals are combined with deworming and micronutrient fortification, especially when tailored to specific nutritional needs - such as those for adolescent girls - that investment is multiplied.   Education: A daily school meal provides a strong incentive to send children to school and keep them there. It allows children to focus on their studies rather than their stomachs and helps to increase school enrolment and attendance, decrease drop-out rates, and improve cognitive abilities. Programmes can be tailored to provide take home rations to target girls in areas where there is a gender gap.   Local Agriculture: As often as possible, food is procured locally, which benefits local farmers and the whole community, while enhancing the sustainability of the programme.   WFP School Meals: http://www.wfp.org/school-meals   * In 2013 WFP produced the first State of School Feeding Worldwide report, it provides a global picture of developments in school feeding, with maps, analysis, and research: http://documents.wfp.org/stellent/groups/public/documents/communications/wfp257481.pdf (140pp)   International School Meals Day: From the U.S., Central African Republic to Syria, by William Lambers (Feeding America)   On March 5, we celebrate International School Meals Day. Food for education matters whether here in the United States or in countries far away.   It is the right of every child in the world to have school meals. It is our responsibility as citizens to make sure they do. School meals play a vital role.   In the United States school meals help to fight hunger. Robert Campbell, a policy analyst for Feeding America says, "When school is in session, more than 21 million children rely on free or reduced-price school lunch programs every day, which guarantee them at least one nutritious meal."   Far less children though receive school breakfast and summer meals. Congress has to close the hunger gaps that exist in our school feeding. They can do so with the Child Nutrition legislation that will be crafted this year.   School meals are vital not only in the United States, but to children everywhere. Yet so many do not get them. The UN World Food Programme (WFP) says, "66 million primary school-age children attend classes hungry across the developing world, with 23 million in Africa alone."   Yet the foundation of health, education and progress in any society rests on school meals. As President Harry Truman once said, "No nation is any healthier than its children." A WFP school feeding report states:   School feeding supports families in securing education for their children, especially girls who are often differentially excluded from education. This promotes human capital development in the long run and helps break intergenerational cycles of poverty and hunger."   In times of emergency school meals can be a source of stability. Beyond our shores, the Central African Republic is a country scarred by war. Militant groups have attacked and displaced a million civilians. A humanitarian crisis has emerged in a country that was already in poverty.   Food supplies have been destroyed throughout the Central African Republic. The United Nations reports crop production is at 58 percent below the pre-crisis average. Poor families have almost nothing to fall back. There are no food reserves. Only rations from WFP has prevented mass starvation. WFP relies on voluntary donations from governments and the public to carry out this life-saving aid.   One way WFP does this is through school feeding. Around 58,000 children in the Central African Republic received WFP lunches at school during January. This fed the children and encouraged them to come to classes, which so many have missed because of the violence in the country.   WFP needs to feed 250,000 children these school meals in 2015. They need funding from the international community to achieve this goal. If they can do this, it would fight hunger and help bring some stability. The Central African Republic needs food and peace most of all, not more guns and fighting.   In war-torn Syria, WFP is planning to feed 500,000 children with school feeding this year. This will be in areas where many internally displaced families have fled the violence.   The WFP vitamin enriched date bars will help boost enrollment and attendance while increasing nutrition levels. Similar programs are already underway in Jordan, Iraq and Egypt where WFP is feeding children who are refugees from the Syrian war.   Haiti, Mali, South Sudan and so many other countries need school feeding to ward of famine and rebuild from conflict and disasters.   The U.S. Food for Peace and McGovern-Dole programs both support school feeding around the world. But these initiatives need more funding. On International School Meals Day think of this ultimate goal: That every child in the world should receive food and education. Our generation should be the one that makes this wish for children come true.   http://www.feedingamerica.org/hunger-in-america/news-and-updates/press-room/feeding-america-Opposes-SNAP-Cuts.html Visit the related web page
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