Madridejos, Cebu – To empower the community of local health and nutrition workers of the municipality of Madridejos, the Nutrition Cluster led by UNICEF Surge Staff, Ms. Angela W. Kangori and DOH – CHD 7 Nutritionist-Dietitian IV, Ms. Julieta G. Tutor, RND facilitated the Training on Community Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) last 18 to 19 December, 2013 at Barangay Poblacion, Madridejos, Cebu.

The CMAM involves timely detection of severe acute malnutrition in the community and provision of treatment for those without medical complications with ready-to-use therapeutic food or other nutrient-dense food at home. If properly combined with a facility-based approach for those malnourished children with medical complications and implemented on a large scale, community-based management of severe acute malnutrition could prevent the deaths of hundreds of thousands of children. Severe acute malnutrition remains a major killer of children under ?ve years of age. Until recently, treatment has been restricted to facility-based approaches, greatly limiting its coverage and impact. New evidence suggests, however, that large numbers of children with severe acute malnutrition can be treated in their communities without being admitted to a health facility or a therapeutic feeding centre.

Fourteen Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNS) representing 14 barangays of Madridejos, and two nurses and two midwives from Barangay Poblacion and Barangay Bunakan underwent the two day training. The training course covered Mid Upper Arm Circumference (MUAC) Screening, Edema Identification, Management of Moderate Acute Malnutrition (MAM) and Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM), Identification of Key Messages for Information Dissemination and Setting Up of Infant and Young Child Feeding (IYCF) Support Groups.