Latest news with #RUTF
Forbes
15-05-2025
- Health
- Forbes
Critical Risk Of Famine For Children In Gaza
Fighting has surged again, border crossings are still closed and food is dangerously scarce, leaving Palestinian children facing catastrophic hunger and acute malnutrition. UNICEF is there, doing what it can to support and protect children. On May 7, 2025, at Al Farooq Camp in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, a woman holds a small child clutching a sachet of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). UNICEF has established a dedicated clinic in the camp to identify and treat children suffering from acute malnutrition. For over two months, the blockade has prevented vital medical and nutrition supplies from entering the Gaza Strip, leaving an estimated 5,000 to 6,000 children in need of therapeutic care each month. At this clinic, trained staff conduct MUAC (mid-upper-arm circumference) screenings and distribute RUTF to help restore children's health and build their resilience. © UNICEF/UNI792833/Rawan Eleyan. All rights reserved. A new Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IPC) report warns that the entire population of the Gaza Strip is facing high levels of acute food insecurity; 470,000 (one in five) face starvation. Nearly 71,000 children under the age of 5 and more than 17,000 pregnant and breastfeeding women will require urgent treatment for acute malnutrition in the coming months. Confirmed by 17 UN agencies and NGOs, the report projects that renewed military operations, the ongoing blockade and the critical lack of supplies needed for survival could push food insecurity, acute malnutrition and mortality levels past the famine thresholds. 'The only thing children are seeing coming into Gaza are bombs and missiles.' UNICEF ramped up delivery during the ceasefire, sending nearly 1,000 truckloads of lifesaving aid including vaccines, nutrition supplies and medical equipment. Those stocks are now running dangerously low. 'The only thing children are seeing coming into Gaza are bombs and missiles,' said UNICEF Spokesperson James Elder. Children and adults are surrounded by damaged and destroyed buildings in Khan Younis, southern Gaza, on May 12, 2025. Low supply and high demand have sent prices soaring – today, a 55-pound bag of flour costs $300. © UNICEF/UNI794465/Jonathan Crickx. All rights reserved. Despite the aid blockade that began on March 2, UNICEF remains on the ground, working to meet children's most urgent needs. Between March and April, UNICEF managed to: On May 8, 2025 in Deir al-Balah, located in the central Gaza Strip, people gather to fill jerry cans with clean, drinkable water from a UNICEF-supported desalination plant before loading them onto donkey carts for transport. © UNICEF/UNI793029/Rawan Eleyan. All rights reserved. UNICEF is also working to provide mental health and psychosocial support for children in Gaza, where the daily stress of living in a war zone for 19 months, not knowing where or when the next air strike will occur, has taken a heavy toll. Renewed hostilities forced some UNICEF temporary learning spaces to close; now UNICEF is re-opening locations in the Middle and Al Nuseirat areas of central Gaza to help children resume their learning despite disruptions. To date, more than 50,000 children have benefited from these safe learning environments, where they receive structured lessons in Arabic, English and mathematics, alongside recreational activities that restore a sense of normalcy and protect their right to education. Learn more about UNICEF's ongoing support for children in Gaza On May 11, 2025, children participate in a geometry activity at a UNICEF-supported temporary learning space at Al Nakheel Camp in Deir El Balah, Gaza Strip. © UNICEF/UNI794478/Jonathan Crickx. All rights reserved. Approximately 90 percent of Gaza's population — roughly 1.9 million people — have been displaced, often multiple times, cutting off families from their livelihoods. Their farmland has been destroyed and the sea they used for fishing has been restricted. Families are rationing remaining food supplies received during the ceasefire. To help parents feed their children, UNICEF reached 200,000 people with humanitarian cash transfers through digital e-wallets between March and April. But with all border crossings closed since March 2 — the longest the population has ever faced — food prices in markets have spiked to astronomical levels, putting what little food is available out of reach for most families. 'The risk of famine does not arrive suddenly," said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. "It unfolds in places where access to food is blocked, where health systems are decimated and where children are left without the bare minimum to survive." "Hunger and acute malnutrition are a daily reality for children across the Gaza Strip," Russell continued. "We have repeatedly warned of this trajectory and call again on all parties to prevent a catastrophe.' Shelves are nearly bare in a shop in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, on May 12, 2025. © UNICEF/UNI794462/Jonathan Crickx. All rights reserved. More than 116,000 metric tons of food assistance — enough to feed 1 million people for up to four months — is already positioned in aid corridors, ready to be brought in. Hundreds of pallets of lifesaving nutrition treatments are also prepositioned for entry. 'Families in Gaza are starving while the food they need is sitting at the border," said UN World Food Program (WFP) Executive Director Cindy McClalin. "We can't get it to them because of the renewed conflict and the total ban on humanitarian aid imposed in early March. It's imperative that the international community acts urgently to get aid flowing into Gaza again. If we wait until after a famine is confirmed, it will already be too late for many people.' United Nations agencies including UNICEF and WFP stand ready to work with all stakeholders and food security partners to bring in these food and nutrition supplies and distribute them as soon as borders reopen for principled aid delivery. UNICEF urges all parties to prioritize the needs of civilians, allow aid to enter Gaza immediately and uphold their obligations under international humanitarian law. Help UNICEF save more lives. Donate today. Right now, the lives of the most vulnerable children hang in the balance as conflicts and crises jeopardize the care and protection that they deserve. Dependable, uninterrupted and effective foreign aid is critical to the well-being of millions of children. Please contact your members of Congress and urge them to support ongoing U.S. investments in foreign assistance.
The Hindu
08-05-2025
- Health
- The Hindu
1,22,826 nutritional kits distributed to 4,454 malnourished children in Karur
A total of 1,22,826 nutritional kits were distributed to 4,454 malnourished children in Karur district under the 'Uttachathai Uruthi Sei' — a nutritional intervention programme. Speaking at the Veerarakiyam anganwadi in Krishnarayam taluk, Karur District Collector, M. Thangavel, said that 2,856 children in Karur under the age of six were found to be malnourished. A total of 1,20,568 Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) were given to 2,153 children along with their regular meals. Their conditions began to improve after a month of consuming RUTF, according to a press release from the District Collectorate. In order to offer redress to nursing mothers in two phases, 1,026 nutritional kits were distributed to 703 malnourished nursing mothers identified in the district. In the second phase, 1,598 malnourished mothers were identified and 2,258 nutritional kits were handed out to them, according to a press release.
Scoop
23-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Aid Cuts Threaten The Lives Of 110,000 Children With Severe Malnutrition Reliant On Emergency Treatment
Press Release – Save The Children Globally, one in five deaths among children aged under 5 are attributed to severe acute malnutrition, making it one of the top threats to child survival. At least 110,000- severely acutely malnourished children supported by Save the Children in 10 countries could be left without access to life-saving ready-to-use emergency food and nutrition programmes as aid cuts hit supplies in coming months, according to a Save the Children analysis. Globally, one in five deaths among children aged under 5 are attributed to severe acute malnutrition, making it one of the top threats to child survival. Community-based programmes combining medical treatment and therapeutic foods, including a fortified peanut paste, have a 90% success rate. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is an energy-dense, micronutrient paste typically made using peanuts, sugar, milk powder, oil, vitamins and minerals that is packaged in foil pouches with a long shelf life and no need of refrigeration. Over the past 30 years this emergency therapeutic food has saved the lives of millions of children facing acute malnutrition [1] [2]. At a time when global hunger is skyrocketing [3], the current global supply of RUTF is already not even meeting 40% of global needs, Save the Children said, leaving millions of children without access to this life-saving intervention. In 2024 there were large-scale breaks in the supply of RUTF as rising malnutrition rates drove up demand and due to disruptions in global supply chains and insufficient funding. This situation is expected to worsen in 2025. An analysis by Save the Children of the 10 countries forecast to have the biggest gaps in supplies found 110,000 malnourished children could miss out on this vital treatment by the end of the year. RUTF supplies are expected to run out in many locations from next month due to a lack of funding. Globally at least 18.2 million children were born into hunger in 2024, or about 35 children a minute, with children in conflict zones from Gaza to Ukraine, to Haiti, Sudan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), struggling daily to get enough to eat. Famine has been declared in several parts of Sudan where people are resorting to eating grass to stay alive. Hannah Stephenson, Head of Hunger and Nutrition at Save the Children, said: 'Right now, funding shortfalls mean essential nutrition packs are not reaching the children who desperately need them. We know we have the expertise and the track record to reach children around the world but what we urgently need now is the funding to ensure children can receive life-saving treatment. We are running out of time, and t his will cost children's lives. 'We also need to see long-term commitments to tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, or else we will continue to see the reversal of progress made for children.' In Kenya, one of the countries where Save the Children treats acute malnutrition cases, 18-month-old Ereng has just recovered from malnutrition with treatment from Community Health Promoter Charles, who was trained in basic healthcare by Save the Children. Lomanat and Daniel, Ereng's parents, walked for several kilometres to reach Charles' clinic. The family are pastoralists, but recent droughts have killed their livestock, and the family now has no sustainable income and no reliable food source. They know how important treatment is for children like Ereng, who gained 2.4 kgs (5.3 pounds) in two months once she started receiving nutrition treatment using the fortified peanut paste which has about 500 calories in each portion. Lomanat said: 'Our child was in a very bad shape, and the doctor helped by giving her peanut paste. I am very happy, because she is cured.' In Somalia, where Save the Children also treats child with acute malnutrition, 7-month-Mukhtar- arrived at a health centre in Puntland after contracting flu which led to breathing difficulties and malnutrition. His mother Shamso, 40, who has eight other children, feared her son would not survive with the family struggling after drought killed all but six of their herd of 30 goats. But after receiving medical care and treatment for malnutrition with peanut paste, Mukhtar recovered and returned home. 'His condition was serious when I brought him in and I didn't expect him to reach the town alive ,' said Shamso. 'My biggest worry is the children, whether my own, those of the relatives or those of my neighbours. When drought comes, it follows that hunger will strike.' Children are always the most vulnerable in food crises and, without enough to eat and the right nutritional balance, they are at high risk of becoming acutely malnourished. Malnutrition can cause stunting, impede mental and physical development, and increase the risk of contracting deadly diseases. About 1.12 billion children globally – or almost half of the world's children – are unable to afford a balanced diet now, according to data from Save the Children released last month. In 2025, Save the Children aims to treat 260,000 children for severe acute malnutrition at outpatient sites in 10 countries that are now experiencing therapeutic food shortages. Save the Children is urgently trying to raise $7 million to provide 110,000 severely malnourished children with life-saving RUTF and the critical services needed to treat malnutrition 1 including skilled health workers, community follow-up, immunizations, safe spaces for treatment, safe water, hygiene and sanitation support. In the United States, actress and Save the Children ambassador Jennifer Garner launched her #67Strong4Kids campaign on her birthday last week. For #67Strong4Kids she is running a mile a day for 67 consecutive days to raise awareness about Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). The amount $67 covers a six-week course of RUTF that treats a child suffering from severe acute malnutrition and potentially saves their life.
Scoop
23-04-2025
- Health
- Scoop
Aid Cuts Threaten The Lives Of 110,000 Children With Severe Malnutrition Reliant On Emergency Treatment
At least 110,000- severely acutely malnourished children supported by Save the Children in 10 countries could be left without access to life-saving ready-to-use emergency food and nutrition programmes as aid cuts hit supplies in coming months, according to a Save the Children analysis. Globally, one in five deaths among children aged under 5 are attributed to severe acute malnutrition, making it one of the top threats to child survival. Community-based programmes combining medical treatment and therapeutic foods, including a fortified peanut paste, have a 90% success rate. Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is an energy-dense, micronutrient paste typically made using peanuts, sugar, milk powder, oil, vitamins and minerals that is packaged in foil pouches with a long shelf life and no need of refrigeration. Over the past 30 years this emergency therapeutic food has saved the lives of millions of children facing acute malnutrition [1] [2]. At a time when global hunger is skyrocketing [3], the current global supply of RUTF is already not even meeting 40% of global needs, Save the Children said, leaving millions of children without access to this life-saving intervention. In 2024 there were large-scale breaks in the supply of RUTF as rising malnutrition rates drove up demand and due to disruptions in global supply chains and insufficient funding. This situation is expected to worsen in 2025. An analysis by Save the Children of the 10 countries forecast to have the biggest gaps in supplies found 110,000 malnourished children could miss out on this vital treatment by the end of the year. RUTF supplies are expected to run out in many locations from next month due to a lack of funding. Globally at least 18.2 million children were born into hunger in 2024, or about 35 children a minute, with children in conflict zones from Gaza to Ukraine, to Haiti, Sudan to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), struggling daily to get enough to eat. Famine has been declared in several parts of Sudan where people are resorting to eating grass to stay alive. Hannah Stephenson, Head of Hunger and Nutrition at Save the Children, said: "Right now, funding shortfalls mean essential nutrition packs are not reaching the children who desperately need them. We know we have the expertise and the track record to reach children around the world but what we urgently need now is the funding to ensure children can receive life-saving treatment. We are running out of time, and t his will cost children's lives. "We also need to see long-term commitments to tackle the root causes of hunger and malnutrition, or else we will continue to see the reversal of progress made for children." In Kenya, one of the countries where Save the Children treats acute malnutrition cases, 18-month-old Ereng has just recovered from malnutrition with treatment from Community Health Promoter Charles, who was trained in basic healthcare by Save the Children. Lomanat and Daniel, Ereng's parents, walked for several kilometres to reach Charles' clinic. The family are pastoralists, but recent droughts have killed their livestock, and the family now has no sustainable income and no reliable food source. They know how important treatment is for children like Ereng, who gained 2.4 kgs (5.3 pounds) in two months once she started receiving nutrition treatment using the fortified peanut paste which has about 500 calories in each portion. Lomanat said: "Our child was in a very bad shape, and the doctor helped by giving her peanut paste. I am very happy, because she is cured." In Somalia, where Save the Children also treats child with acute malnutrition, 7-month-Mukhtar- arrived at a health centre in Puntland after contracting flu which led to breathing difficulties and malnutrition. His mother Shamso, 40, who has eight other children, feared her son would not survive with the family struggling after drought killed all but six of their herd of 30 goats. But after receiving medical care and treatment for malnutrition with peanut paste, Mukhtar recovered and returned home. "His condition was serious when I brought him in and I didn't expect him to reach the town alive ," said Shamso. "My biggest worry is the children, whether my own, those of the relatives or those of my neighbours. When drought comes, it follows that hunger will strike." Children are always the most vulnerable in food crises and, without enough to eat and the right nutritional balance, they are at high risk of becoming acutely malnourished. Malnutrition can cause stunting, impede mental and physical development, and increase the risk of contracting deadly diseases. About 1.12 billion children globally - or almost half of the world's children - are unable to afford a balanced diet now, according to data from Save the Children released last month. In 2025, Save the Children aims to treat 260,000 children for severe acute malnutrition at outpatient sites in 10 countries that are now experiencing therapeutic food shortages. Save the Children is urgently trying to raise $7 million to provide 110,000 severely malnourished children with life-saving RUTF and the critical services needed to treat malnutrition 1 including skilled health workers, community follow-up, immunizations, safe spaces for treatment, safe water, hygiene and sanitation support. In the United States, actress and Save the Children ambassador Jennifer Garner launched her #67Strong4Kids campaign on her birthday last week. For #67Strong4Kids she is running a mile a day for 67 consecutive days to raise awareness about Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF). The amount $67 covers a six-week course of RUTF that treats a child suffering from severe acute malnutrition and potentially saves their life.
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Amid USAID chaos, some humanitarian aid groups still aren't getting paid for lifesaving programs
Edesia, a Rhode Island-based company that makes 'Plumpy'Nut' — packets of specially fortified and highly caloric peanut butter paste that saves the lives of severely malnourished babies and children — recently laid off 10% of its staff and even briefly paused production altogether for more than two weeks. Its CEO says they are having serious cash flow problems. In Georgia, MANA Nutrition — a plant that produces similar 'Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food,' or RUTF, packets of peanut butter — is leaning heavily on a line of credit from Bank of America to stay afloat for the time being, according to the company's founder. Neither company has gotten paid by the US Agency for International Development in months — not since the last quarter of 2024. 'We are irreparably breaking a good system for no particular reason,' said Mark Moore, MANA's CEO and co-founder. 'And the impact on children — it's not at all dramatic to say that it's going to cost, at the very least, tens of thousands of lives.' Edesia and MANA are among the scores of organizations grappling with canceled USAID contracts and little to no payment from the agency. Both Edesia and MANA had their USAID contracts canceled before they were reinstated; for MANA, the cancellation was rescinded after Elon Musk personally weighed in. USAID, spurred by a court ruling, has begun issuing payments to other organizations — but those payments have been sporadic and minimal. A federal judge has ordered USAID to pay out contracts and grants for all foreign assistance work done by mid-February. However, processing those payments has been slow going, and as of a March 27 court filing, more than 6,000 payments still needed to be processed. The payment issues are among the many consequences of the Trump administration's efforts to abruptly shut down USAID and dramatically restructure foreign aid. The combination of the US government's sweeping freeze on foreign aid in late January, mass reductions in USAID staff, and thousands of contract terminations had already caused a significant impact — even for aid groups that are still supposed to be receiving money. Some of those same groups are owed money for work done before the freeze. The administration's move to shutter the agency by July is expected to further exacerbate the consequences. The respective CEOs of Edesia and MANA Nutrition, Navyn Salem and Moore, told CNN in recent days that they can only guess when they might next get paid by USAID for the hundreds of thousands of boxes of lifesaving peanut butter paste they have already produced for the government agency. Their contacts at USAID — who, according to Salem and Moore, were initially fired or put on leave before eventually being brought back to work — can no longer provide them with any clear answers. Other humanitarian organizations have similarly struggled to get answers as USAID has been gutted and their usual points of contacts are cut off from the internal systems. They fear this will only get worse as the vast majority of USAID personnel are expected to lose their jobs as the Trump administration moves to abolish the agency and fold it under the State Department. Fewer than 900 USAID direct-hire employees remained on the job as of March 21, according to another notice from the agency to Congress. USAID said in a letter sent to Congress last week that it issued more than $250 million in payments between March 10 and March 21. However, sources who spoke to CNN said payments to aid groups have trickled in — if they have arrived at all. Several humanitarian officials told CNN they are still owed money for work they had completed. One humanitarian official said their organization has received 'so little it's basically nothing.' 'They need to start issuing significant payments for existing lifesaving programs or organizations won't be able to continue,' they told CNN. An association that represents humanitarian aid contractors has heard from the more than 70 groups they represent that they are getting paid in 'dribs and drabs,' a source familiar said. Another humanitarian official said if they don't get paid, even for grants that have not been terminated, their organization cannot continue their programs. 'We might have to shut them down proactively simply because we cannot pay salaries or rent,' they told CNN. Because of slow payment or funding cuts, many humanitarian organizations have had to furlough or lay off staff. Nearly 19,000 American jobs have been lost and more than 166,000 global jobs have been lost, according to USAID Stop Work. A State Department spokesperson confirmed to CNN that 'between March 10 and March 21, 2025, USAID disbursed a total of over $257 million,' which 'equates to approximately $25 million per business day.' 'This work continues, as does streamlining the previously problematic and fragmented payment structure,' the spokesperson said. Even if payments are made, it is not enough to fully stem the impact of USAID's dismantlement. 'Some of the damage is irreparable,' the first humanitarian official said. 'There are so many layers of impact. We can rehire, but trust with communities and some governments is broken.' 'No one will think of the US as a sure thing anymore,' they told CNN. With the suspension of assistance and stop-work orders put in place in late January, efforts to combat infectious diseases like tuberculosis and to treat people, including children, with HIV/AIDS have been stymied. Local employees who worked with nonprofit organizations abroad may now be at risk in countries where affiliation with the US makes them a target. Moore, the MANA CEO, said his organization is making contingency plans for USAID potentially never returning to the equation, including by reaching out directly to nongovernmental organizations that could partner in distributing his company's packets of peanut butter. 'We're scrounging hard to drum up partners who could go around the USAID system,' he said. 'It's a stopgap idea, but planning long term will be hard.' CNN's Tierney Sneed contributed to this report.
