Malnutrition is responsible for almost half of all deaths of children
Tragically, up to 2 million children around the world perish every year from acute malnutrition. That’s the death of one child every 15 seconds. We have a simple, life-saving treatment that is over 90% effective at quickly curing children with acute malnutrition.
The current humanitarian system to treat malnourished children divides them into two categories: severe and moderate. Each group is treated with different protocols and products, at different delivery points, delivered by two different U.N. agencies.
What’s the problem? An inefficient humanitarian system and barriers in reaching health care, especially in the toughest settings.
This delivery system is complex, inefficient, and costly—limiting the scale of children that can be reached with finite resources.
Another issue is that families in rural or war-torn areas or places with extreme climate change face far distances and high opportunity costs in reaching health clinics and treatment. These barriers make it difficult for communities to access treatment for malnutrition worldwide.
This current humanitarian system is failing children and their families
RUTF is over 90% effective at quickly curing children with acute malnutrition, but it is reaching less than 1 in 5 of those children.
This system effectively prevents many children with moderate acute malnutrition from receiving RUTF, forcing them to deteriorate into an even more life-threatening state before they are eligible for treatment.
Every acutely malnourished child deserves access to this relatively cheap and highly effective cure. The solution is to scale a radically simpler approach to treatment.
Over 80% of children don’t get the treatment they need
Meet ready-to-use therapeutic food: It’s been called a “miracle cure”
Ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) is essentially a sweet peanut butter paste that’s made from peanuts, milk, sugar, and enhanced with vitamins and nutrients that kids like to eat.
With a two-year shelf life and no refrigeration, cooking or water needed, RUTF is eaten right from the packet. Yet less than 20 percent of children with acute malnutrition receive this life-saving treatment.
RUTF benefits malnourished children at a low cost
Invented 25 years ago, RUTF paste is made from powdered milk, peanuts, butter, vegetable oil, sugar and a mix of vitamins and minerals.
RUTF:
Contains 500 high-nutritional calories, allowing malnourished children to gain weight quickly
Has a two-year shelf life, making it easy to store and ship from warehouses
Tastes appealing to children and is easy to digest
No need for preparation or refrigeration (even after opening)—children eat it directly from the packet