Aseel’s story: a successful yet fragile recovery from malnutrition

In June 2021, Aseel, 2 years old, was brought to Al-Sabeen hospital, in Sana’a, Yemen, because his parents were concerned that he looked very weak and would not eat. Aseel has been suffering from severe acute malnutrition since he was two months old. The health staff screened him by measuring his arm circumference. He stayed in the hospital for four days to receive treatment.

With contributions from donors such as Japan, UNICEF supports 34 Therapeutic Feeding Centers like the one where Aseel was treated, providing inpatient care for children with severe acute malnutrition with medical complications. In 2021, with UNICEF support, close to 140,000 children aged 6 to 59 months suffering from severe acute malnutrition were admitted to therapeutic care and 3.1 million children received micronutrients including vitamin A.

When he was admitted to the TFC, Aseel weighed only 4 kg. At the end of the treatment, he had managed to gain more than 2 kg.

Four months later, Aseel came back to the TFC for a follow-up. He was doing much better and had gained more weight. The doctors however warned that his recovery was a long-term process and he had not yet defeated severe acute malnutrition. Health staff were happy to see his cheeks were looking much more like a healthy two-year-old’s.

The staff at Al-Sabeen even managed to get a smile out of him while he was being weighed and examined!

Support to Therapeutic Feeding Centers is crucial to enable UNICEF to maintain its response to the malnutrition crisis children in Yemen are currently facing. UNICEF also procures and delivers essential nutrition supplies to TFCs, supports the functionality of 180 Mobile Teams to reach the most hard-to-reach children and mothers, internally displaced people in the areas with highest needs in Yemen. Over 2.3 million children in Yemen are threatened by acute malnutrition and over 400,000 are at risk of severe acute malnutrition. Their lives are at stake.