Nutrition
Understanding RUTF: Ghana’s lifeline for malnourished children
EVERY year, thousands of children across Ghana face the harsh realities of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), a condition that weakens their immunity, disrupts growth, affects brain development, and puts their lives at risk. While families often strive to provide the best they can, the rising cost of food, inadequate dietary diversity, and limited access to nutrition services have made malnutrition an increasingly complex challenge. Amid this struggle, one intervention has stood out as a game changer: Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF).
RUTF is a specially formulated, nutrient-packed therapeutic paste used to treat children suffering from severe malnutrition. Typically made from peanuts, milk powder, vegetable oil, sugar, and a precise blend of vitamins and minerals, RUTF provides every nutrient a severely malnourished child needs to recover rapidly.
What makes RUTF extraordinary is not just its nutritional composition, but its practicality. It requires no cooking, no mixing with water, and no refrigeration, all of which make it ideal for families in communities where clean water, electricity, and food storage are major challenges.
Health professionals consider RUTF one of the most effective treatment tools in global child health. In Ghana, its use within the Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programme has allowed caregivers to administer treatment at home while receiving periodic monitoring from health workers. This approach dramatically reduces hospital congestion, cuts costs for families who would otherwise travel long distances for care, and allows children to heal in the comfort of familiar surroundings.
In addition, RUTF supports early recovery by improving appetite, restoring energy, and ensuring steady weight gain, which is critical factors for long-term healthy development. Understanding what RUTF is and why it matters is essential as Ghana continues to confront rising cases of childhood malnutrition linked to economic hardships, climate shocks, and gaps in nutrition governance. RUTF is more than food; it is a lifeline. It is a second chance for children whose futures are threatened not by disease or injury, but by the simple lack of nutritious meals.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project.
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A six-year-old child, Abdula Hannan, on Wednesday, March 25, underwent a fourth major surgery within a period of four years at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital (KATH), to correct defects caused by a domestic accident.
The procedure marks the latest chapter in a four-year medical story of Hannan that started at the age of two when he suffered severe internal injuries after he accidentally consumed a corrosive soda-based chemical.
With the life of the infant at stake, his survival became possible following an intervention by the Tamale North Member of Parliament (MP) and Minister of Education, Haruna Iddrisu.
From Kingsley E. Hope Kumasi
Nutrition
The Right to Nutrition: Turning Ghana’s policy commitments into real access for vulnerable families
Ghana has made strong commitments to protecting the health and wellbeing of its citizens. The Constitution affirms the state’s responsibility to safeguard public health, and the country has endorsed international agreements recognizing the right to adequate food and nutrition.
National policies also acknowledge malnutrition as a major challenge and outline interventions designed to address it. Yet for many vulnerable families, the reality remains very different. An estimated 68,517 children with severe acute malnutrition face a mortality risk nine times higher than that of well-nourished children, while only 15 per cent receive the treatment their government has approved as essential medicine. The gap between rights on paper and access in practice defines the challenge facing vulnerable families.
When rights are effectively implemented, systems exist to ensure access regardless of income or location. Ghana’s immunisation program is a good example. Children receive vaccines through routine services across the country because financing mechanisms guarantee supply and remove cost barriers. Similarly, many pregnant women
access antenatal services through the National Health Insurance Scheme. Nutrition interventions, however, do not yet benefit from the same level of system support.
For a mother in a rural community whose child develops severe malnutrition, the availability of treatment often depends on factors beyond her control. Does a donor-supported program operate in her district? Are supplies currently available at the health facility, or have funding gaps caused stockouts? Even though national policy recognises the treatment, the health system may not consistently provide it.
The same challenge affects maternal nutrition. Multiple Micronutrient Supplements are recognised in policy and supported by convincing evidence. Studies show they can reduce low birth weight and preterm birth while addressing a broader range of micronutrient deficiencies. Yet pilot programs currently reach only a small proportion of pregnant women nationwide.
When access depends on project locations rather than national systems, inequities deepen. Wealthier households may find ways to obtain supplements or travel to better-resourced facilities. Poor families, particularly in rural areas, rely entirely on public services. When those services operate on a limited scale, poverty becomes a determining factor in who receives care.
Closing this gap requires strengthening the mechanisms that translate policy commitments into real services. Integrating nutrition interventions such as RUTF and Multiple Micronutrient Supplements into the National Health Insurance Scheme could provide that mechanism. With a large share of mothers and children already enrolled, NHIS offers an existing platform capable of expanding access nationwide.
This is fundamentally a question of equity and justice. Ghana has demonstrated the capacity to deliver universal coverage for some health interventions. The right to vaccination does not depend on household income because financing systems ensure supply and remove cost barriers. The right to antenatal consultation is similarly protected through NHIS. There is no technical or ethical justification for treating nutrition rights differently. If severe malnutrition treatment and comprehensive maternal supplementation are essential for health, they deserve the same financing commitment as other essential services.
Rights become meaningful when they guarantee access. Ensuring that every child and every pregnant woman can obtain proven nutrition interventions is not only a health priority, but also a step toward making Ghana’s policy commitments a reality.
Feature article by Women, Media and Change under its Nourish Ghana: Advocating for Increased Leadership to Combat Malnutrition project
