Bohol Province – The Bohol Provincial Nutrition Committee thru its secretariat organized a training on Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) for Barangay Nutrition Scholars and Barangay Health Workers. The capacity development activity conducted in 2 batches was done on 22 and 23 September 2022 at the San Miguel Technical Vocational School Home Economics building room. A total of 18 barangay nutrition scholars and 36 barangay health workers attended the training.

PNPC Glenda G. Grafilo, PNPC Ardin B. Abrea, RND, and DNPC Beatrice P. Rafols facilitated the sessions.

CMAM is a strategy for identifying and treating uncomplicated cases of severe acute malnutrition (SAM) without requiring hospitalization, potentially increasing coverage and decreasing cost relative to treating SAM in a hospital setting. The case-finding and triage approach to treating acute malnutrition in young children is known as CMAM. Using this method, malnourished children receive treatment that is personalized to their nutritional and medical needs. Only a small percentage of malnourished children require inpatient care. Its long-term goal is to reduce the prevalence of malnutrition while also improving public health and food security. 

Before the discussions, the trainers gave a pre-test to all participants. After the sessions, the participants were able to identify the two (2) types of acute malnutrition, learned how, and when to refer children with acute malnutrition to an appropriate facility and demonstrated how to identify acute malnutrition using the MUAC and Z-score. The trainers are hopeful that all of the participants will be able to identify and initiate treatment for children with acute malnutrition before they become seriously ill. // ND II Annie Claire B. Añasco, RND