A closer look at treating malnourished children in southern Ethiopia
Konso region in southern Ethiopia, like other parts of the country, has recently been hit by the simultaneous effects of conflict, displacement and drought. These crises have made it difficult for women and children to cope, leading to a sharp rise in malnutrition in the region.
The livelihoods of Konso’s hardworking farming communities are on the edge. Since the start of the crisis, the EU’s humanitarian partner UNICEF has been supporting health workers providing life-saving nutrition services.
We followed one of these dedicated community health workers, Ajna Afalta, in her daily work treating malnourished children.
It’s early in the morning at Buso health post, and community health worker Ajna Afalta is giving a valuable lesson on child health and good feeding habits. Pregnant women and mothers with small children have gathered to listen to her explain, occasionally interrupting her to ask questions as she explains illustrations on a large flipchart.
Before moving on to the next lesson, she does a short review to see if the students understood what they were taught and if they have any questions.
After the class, she begins testing the children for their nutritional status and quickly discovers that eight-month-old Michael Kusa is severely malnourished.
“Family farms are small in Konso.” She says. “Bulk harvests don’t come easily. Drought makes life difficult. Conflict has displaced people. This has led to a sharp increase in cases of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). We now have 26 children in the Outpatient Treatment Programme (OTP). Before the drought, there were only six or seven children.”
“The last three years have been difficult for us.” Michael’s mother, Casa Giroya, added: ““Last year the sorghum harvest was poor. I couldn’t feed my child properly and my son started getting sick.”
After the step-by-step tests are completed, Ajna prepares some antibiotic tablets and dissolves them in water so that Michael can easily take them.
“That helps fight infection.” She says: “We provide this treatment to malnourished children because they are more likely to fall ill.”
Dr. Ajna gently presses and releases the top of Michael’s foot with his fingers, repeating this motion several times. Noticing that the child’s foot does not have any depressions, Dr. Ajna rules out edema, which can cause the feet to swell in children with SAM.
She then writes Michael’s name on an OTP card for future follow-up. But Ajna’s work isn’t done yet. She spends a few more minutes advising Casasa on how to prepare nutritious meals for her child using locally available ingredients and how to continue breastfeeding. She also advises the mother that her son needs special care as he is prone to infections.
Finally, Ajna gave Michael some ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF) to help him recover and regain his strength quickly, and also gave his mother a bag of RUTF to cover Michael’s needs over the next few days.
After taking medication and putting him on a therapeutic diet, Michael went to sleep peacefully in his mother’s arms. He will return in a week for further observation. Fortunately, he did not experience any further complications and will recover quickly.
For 2024, the EU has allocated €43.1 million in humanitarian aid to Ethiopia to provide life-saving assistance to vulnerable people.
Through its humanitarian operations, the EU helps provide children caught up in humanitarian emergencies with: (i) protection; (ii) food aid; (iii) access to clean water and sanitation; (iv) shelter; (v) basic necessities; (vi) nutritional support; (vii) health care; (viii) disease prevention and access to basic health care; and (ix) education and protection.
