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In September 2007, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) launched a programme to treat children with acute malnutrition in Yako and Titao in the Northern Region, an area with a chronically high level of malnutrition in Burkina Faso. Just like MSF’s other nutrition programs, a color coded bracelet called MUAC (mid-upper arm circumference) is used as quick screening of malnourished children under the age of five. The circumference of each child's middle upper arm is measured with the MUAC. If the bracelet shows green, the child is okay. Yellow indicates moderate malnutrition, and the child will need supplementary feeding. If the MUAC shows red, the child is severely malnourished and will need treatment.
By the end of March 2008, a total of 10,646 children under five years of age had been seen in this program in Burkina Faso, and the cure rate stands at approximately 89 percent. [Jun Aoki / MSF] |
