Preventing, detecting, and treating malnutrition across Sierra Leone
An effort to address malnutrition in Sierra Leone
Bombali - For more than nine weeks, Isatu Sesay's Friday mornings have been dedicated to visiting Masele Primary Health Centre in Bombali district, where her baby Matenneh has been receiving treatment for malnutrition.
Despite the visible signs of distress on her face, Isatu has gone through the last nine weeks with a lot of hope and confidence that the sachets of therapeutic food which Matenneh has been receiving, will help in regaining her health.
"It has been difficult to make the five-mile journey to the centre every Friday. But seeing my baby looking skinny and in pain, was more difficult to bear," says the young loving mother, as she tearfully recalls the state in which her daughter was. She feared for the worst when after a month of treatment, there was no visible change in Matenneh’s health.
"It broke my heart that people in the village were all refusing to hold my baby because of the way she looked," says Isatu. At 10 months old, Matenneh weighed just 5.5kgs, vomited consistently and her condition seemed to deteriorate daily.
Today, Isatu has every reason to smile. After going through the process of weighing Matenneh, checking her temperature and other vital signs, nurse Kai Koroma has told Isatu that Matenneh is now okay, and they no longer need to make the weekly checkup visits to the health centre.
As she leaves the centre, Isatu takes time to interact with some of the other mothers, who also come to receive the weekly ration of therapeutic food for their children. She shares the story of Matenneh’s remarkable recovery with the mothers, with the hope that this personal testimony will build their confidence in the treatment that their children are receiving.
“There are many of us who have gone through this problem of looking after a malnourished child, and I just want to encourage them to continue bringing their children for treatment at the health centre,” says Isatu.
Malnutrition is widespread across Sierra Leone, with 33 percent of children under-five years of age being stunted and approximately 176,269 suffering from acute malnutrition on an annual basis. Of these, 63,362 children are severely malnourished and at high risk of dying if left untreated.
Since January 2022, more than 25,000 children suffering from Severe and Acute Malnutrition have been reached with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) under this support to the IMAM programme.
“UNICEF is working with the Government of Sierra Leone to prevent child malnutrition in all
its forms throughout the life cycle of a child. Prevention comes first, but if prevention fails, treatment is a must,” says Katherine Faigao, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist.
Household poverty, coupled with limited knowledge on what the right foods to promote a baby’s growth and development are, often contribute to the high incidence of malnutrition.
To close this knowledge gap, caregivers are given comprehensive guidance on good feeding practices before they leave the health centre.
With funding from Vitality through the United Kingdom (UK) Committee for UNICEF, support to the Government of Sierra Leone’s Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM) programme has been boosted. UNICEF in Sierra Leone is working closely with the Ministry of Health and Sanitation to strengthen high-impact nutrition interventions to prevent, detect and treat malnutrition across the country.
Since January 2022, more than 25,000 children suffering from Severe and Acute Malnutrition have been reached with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) under this support to the IMAM programme.
“UNICEF is working with the Government of Sierra Leone to prevent child malnutrition in all
its forms throughout the life cycle of a child. Prevention comes first, but if prevention fails, treatment is a must,” says Katherine Faigao, UNICEF Nutrition Specialist.
Household poverty, coupled with limited knowledge on what the right foods to promote a baby’s growth and development are, often contribute to the high incidence of malnutrition.
To close this knowledge gap, caregivers are given comprehensive guidance on good feeding practices before they leave the health centre.
“We encourage mothers to give babies locally produced food such as pumpkin, sweet potato leaves, palm oil, rice and fish. Most of the mothers, including Isatu, admit that these are things they have at home, but they did not know that this is what they should feed their babies,” says Nurse Koroma, as she shows the mothers some samples of the food which should be consumed by the baby at home.
Compared to nine weeks ago, Matenneh is a different baby altogether. Her consistent chuckles and laughter, her attempt at taking her first wobbly steps and her positive weight gain, are some of the telling signs of the transformation that has taken place in her health and well-being, thanks to the RUTF she has been receiving at Masele Primary Health Centre.
