A nine-year project between Action Against Hunger and the innocent foundation, which recommended the use of community health workers to diagnose and treat severe acute malnutrition, has culminated in the World Health Organization (WHO) updating its global guidelines to endorse the approach.
Severe acute malnutrition, or wasting, is the single greatest threat to child survival. Globally, 45 million children suffer from wasting, of which at least 13.7 million are severely wasted (meaning they have low weight-for-height). Community health workers are a vital partner in defeating this threat.
Community health workers live in the heart of rural communities and travel door-to-door to provide care and support to families in their homes. Beginning in 2014 in northern Mali, this project between the two organisations trained community health workers and collected evidence on their effectiveness in diagnosing and treating malnutrition through home visits. Instead of families travelling long distances to visit health facilities, the new approach has brought treatment closer to home.
“Having malnutrition treatment within the community has greatly reduced malnutrition and other illnesses in the community,” says Ibrahim Sangare, Community Health Worker, Mali.
The project found that community health workers achieved the same or better treatment results for children with severe acute malnutrition, compared to treatment at a hospital or another medical facility. In Mali, this stood at 94.2 per cent cured through community health workers, in comparison to 88.6 per cent cured in a healthcare facility. It also improved the number of children being diagnosed and treated, reducing the risk of illness and death related to acute malnutrition.
Nick Canney, innocent foundation trustee and innocent CEO, said “We’re thrilled that our longstanding partnership with Action Against Hunger has contributed to these new guidelines from the World Health Organisation on tackling malnutrition.
“Since 2014, our simple but effective initiative has shown the vital role played by Community Health Workers in the fight against hunger, and we’re proud that our investment and work together has led to this global policy recommendation.”
In its updated guideline on the management of wasting and nutritional oedema, the WHO has endorsed the community health worker approach when treating wasting as long as adequate training and ongoing supervision can be ensured.
As the world’s leading agency providing recommendations on malnutrition treatment, the WHO has committed to working with other UN bodies and humanitarian organisations, including Action Against Hunger, to review and update their policies, so that the new guidelines are widely implemented.
Since 2014, the innocent foundation has committed £1.75 million to Action Against Hunger’s work, helping the charity predict, prevent and treat life-threatening hunger and malnutrition.
Jean-Michel Grand, Executive Director of Action Against Hunger UK, said: “From the beginning of our partnership with the innocent foundation, we’ve shared a bold vision to beat hunger, and the WHO’s endorsement of our work through its new guidelines is a testament to the success of our collaboration.
“We look forward to continuing our work together, as we strive to increase the number of community health workers and bring malnutrition treatment closer to home for families in Mali.”