Nutrition
Over 30 years of lifesaving therapeutic food: Why millions of children still need help
For the past thirty years, Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) has transformed the treatment of severe acute malnutrition in children. Before its introduction in the late 1990s, children suffering from severe wasting often required prolonged hospital stays, intensive medical care, and constant supervision. Today, many of these children can recover safely at home or within their communities under the guidance of trained health workers. This innovation has saved millions of lives across more than 70 countries and changed the global response to child malnutrition.
Severe acute malnutrition, also known as severe wasting, is one of the deadliest forms of malnutrition. It weakens the immune system, slows growth and development, and increases a child’s risk of death significantly. Common illnesses such as diarrhoea, pneumonia, and malaria become far more dangerous when children are malnourished. Globally, undernutrition is linked to nearly half of all deaths among children under five years, with the highest risk among children under the age of two In Ghana alone, an estimated 68,517 children are affected by severe acute malnutrition, according to the 2022 Ghana Demographic and Health Survey.
RUTF has proven to be one of the most effective tools in treating severe wasting, and is central to the Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) framework — the globally endorsed model for delivering SAM treatment at the community level, outside of hospital settings The peanut-based paste is fortified with essential vitamins and minerals and requires no refrigeration, water, or cooking, making it practical for low-resource settings. When treatment begins early and supplies are consistently available, recovery rates range between 75 and 90 percent, at an estimated treatment cost of approximately USD 45 to 60 per child making RUTF one of the most cost-effective interventions in global health. Children often recover within six to ten weeks, regaining strength and healthy weight rapidly.
Despite these successes, access to treatment remains critically low. Globally, fewer than one in four children who need therapeutic food are able to receive it. The challenge today is no longer about whether treatment works; the evidence is clear. The real challenge is financing and consistent supply.
Many countries, including Ghana, have already taken important steps. RUTF is included in Ghana’s Essential Medicines List and Standard Treatment Guidelines, and hundreds of health workers have been trained to manage severe acute malnutrition within communities, including through Ghana’s Community-based Health Planning and Services (CHPS) compound network. However, procurement of therapeutic food still relies heavily on donor support, making supplies vulnerable to funding cuts and disruptions. As a result, some districts have access to treatment while others do not, even when malnutrition rates are equally high.
Addressing child malnutrition requires stronger political commitment and sustainable financing. Integrating RUTF into national health financing systems, including the National Health Insurance Scheme, could help ensure that children receive timely treatment regardless of where they live. Achieving this would require establishing clear RUTF reimbursement protocols within the NHIS claims framework, alongside dedicated national budget allocations for therapeutic food procurement. The infrastructure and knowledge already exist. What is needed now is sustained investment and prioritization.
Three decades of therapeutic food have shown that severe acute malnutrition is highly treatable. No child should die from a condition that can be managed with proven, lifesaving nutrition support. The progress made is significant, but the revolution remains incomplete until every child who needs treatment can access it.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project.
Ghana’s economic conversations often focus on fiscal policy, investment, and productivity. But there is a cost that rarely enters these conversations.
The crippling, compounding cost of malnutrition. According to the Cost of Hunger in Africa (COHA) study, a landmark analysis conducted jointly by the African Union, the UN Economic Commission for Africa, WFP, and UNICEF, malnutrition drains an estimated 6.4 per cent from Ghana’s GDP every year. That is not a nutrition statistic. That is a national economic crisis hiding in plain sight.
What malnutrition actually costs
Malnutrition costs Ghana in ways that are both direct and deeply structural. Stunted children underperform in school, earn less as adults, and are more likely to raise malnourished children of their own, perpetuating a cycle that spans generations. Anaemic women are less productive in the workplace. Malnourished mothers give birth to low-birth-weight babies who face higher rates of illness, hospitalisation, and death. Diet-related diseases like diabetes, hypertension, and heart disease are rising fast, placing a mounting burden on Ghana’s health system and workforce.
The cost of inaction on malnutrition globally is estimated at $41 trillion over the next decade, according to the World Bank’s Investment Framework for Nutrition 2024. a figure that far outweighs the $13 billion annually needed to scale up proven nutrition interventions. For Ghana, the 6.4 per cent of GDP figure represents billions of cedis lost each year through reduced productivity, increased healthcare costs, and compromised human capital.
A problem that pays to solve
The economic case for investing in nutrition is overwhelming. Every dollar invested in nutrition returns an estimated $16 to the local economy. Scaling up proven nutrition interventions such as breastfeeding support, micronutrient supplementation, school feeding, treatment of acute malnutrition, is not charity. It is one of the highest-return investments a government can make.
Ghana’s commitment at the 2025 N4G Paris Summit to spend $6 million annually on nutrition commodities is a start. But $6 million against a problem that costs the economy billions each year is a fraction of what is needed. Ghana’s finance and planning ministries must be brought into the nutrition conversation, not just the health ministry.
A 6.4 per cent GDP loss would trigger emergency cabinet meetings if it came from any other sector. Malnutrition demands the same urgency. Ghana must stop treating nutrition as a health programme and start treating it as the economic and development priority it truly is.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
Coconut oil is the oil extracted from raw or dried coconut. At room temperature, pure coconut oil is sold in jars rather than bottles. When heated, it softens or melts, depending on the degree of warmth.
Coconut oil is rich in fatty acids, and contains around 90 per cent saturated fat. It’s almost 50 per cent lauric acid, and also contains about seven other types. The oil is used in beauty products for the skin and hair, as well as for cooking. It can also be used in biofuel.
– Contains medium-chain fatty acids
Coconut oil is different from other dietary oils, because it is mainly composed of medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs), whereas most other oils are almost entirely long-chain fatty acids. This means that the fatty acids in coconut oil are made up of a chain of six to 12 carbon atoms, as opposed to the more than 12 found in long-chain fatty acids. This difference in structure has all sorts of implications, including how the oil is digested to how it influences your body.
-Has anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties
About 50 per cent of the medium-chain fatty acids (MCFAs) in coconut oil are a type called lauric acid, which contributes to the oil’s anti-inflammatory, anti-microbial and anti-fungal properties.
– Skin conditions
Limited but consistent evidence appears to support the topical use of coconut oil for the prevention and treatment of mild to moderate cases of chronic skin conditions, such as atopic dermatitis. It has also been shown to alleviate some complex skin conditions, such as eczema or psoriasis.
-Protects hair from damage
The lauric acid in coconut oil appears to have a high affinity for hair protein and, because of the way the oil is structured, is able to penetrate inside the hair shaft. This means coconut oil and products made from it may be useful in preventing the hair damage caused by protein loss due to grooming and ultraviolet (UV) exposure. However, more studies are needed to confirm this effect.
– Prevention of dental caries
Oil pulling is a traditional ayurvedic remedy originally practised in ancient India for the maintenance of oral health. More recent studies suggest the practice of using coconut oil may be beneficial for the prevention of dental caries by reducing plaque formation and gingivitis. However, limitations in sample sizes and duration means a larger number of well-designed randomised controlled trials are needed to determine the true value of coconut oil for this purpose. Healthline.com
