Plumpy Nut works wonders
It has saved many malnourished children
Rural Bujumbura, Burundi - Emmanuelline Niyindereye walked 6 kilometers from her house to the nearest health centre in Muhororo, which is located in a rural Bujumbura province of western Burundi. She carried her baby on her back and held the hands of her eldest daughters, Cynthia 7, and Ange Nelly 3, as they walked.
The young mother, a farmer, is 25 years old and she is worried. Her daughter has a fever. In addition, Ange Nelly has had a swollen face for a few days. She lacks energy and seems to lose interest in everything.
At the Mageyo Health Centre, the diagnosis was made very quickly - Ange Nelly is, for the second time in her life, suffering from acute malnutrition.
Already the previous year, Ange Nelly had been treated for an episode of malnutrition. Thanks to the "Plumpy Nut", a ready-to-use therapeutic food, she recovered in less than a month. Her case is far from isolated, says Leonidas Harerimana, head nurse of the nutrition department at the Mageyo Health Centre, which has integrated the screening and treatment of malnutrition as part of the regularly provided services. “Pumply Nut works wonders, and has saved many malnourished children,” he says. “64 children were cared for from January to September 2018; 59 are cured, a rate of 92 per cent”. The remaining are still under treatment.
‘’The causes of malnutrition in Burundi are multiple,in our region”, Ezéchiel Habonimana, the head of the health centre explains. “People are very poor. Often mothers are forced to wean their children early because they no longer have milk.”
“At home, we lack money”, says the young mother Emmanuelline, “and we have trouble buying food”. In addition, she is not very sure which food groups can provide her children with the nutritional elements necessary for their growth.
Her daughter, Ange Nelly will be enrolled in the nutritional care service of the health centre. She will receive outpatient treatment, coming to the health centre once a week for a medical check-up and to receive her weekly ration of Plumpy Nut. In addition, the mother will receive advice on key practices for feeding her children well, to avoid further relapses.
For Emmanuelline, coming to the health centre every week is a sacrifice: “I come on foot, with my three children,” she says. “It would be great if my daughter could be cared for closer to home.” The Burundian Ministry of Health, with UNICEF support, has planned to extend geographic coverage of Nutrition services from 53 per cent to 100 per cent of the population to make care available for the most vulnerable population. UNICEF Burundi provides Plumpy Nut in health facilities, provided through USAID support. UNICEF also supports capacity building efforts for health care providers, who teach mothers who come to the services on the best nutritional practices for feeding their children.
