Treating Malnutrition in Haiti with Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Foods

The case opens in June 2008, when the director of the coordination unit of the National Food and Nutrition Program of the Ministry of Health met three NGOs that had completed a six-month field trial treating children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) through community-based care with ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF). The director held that moderately malnourished children should also receive RUTF, which would mean procuring it for over 100,000 children, while the NGOs argued RUTF was not designed for that use and the plan was not feasible.

The case describes Haiti's history, demographics, child health and food insecurity, with about 3 million Haitians food insecure in June 2008, and the evidence on RUTF and other treatments. It notes the supply position: UNICEF procured 7,500 kilograms of RUTF in 2008, enough for about 500 children, and reaching the 22,900 children with SAM looked daunting. The case was prepared for classroom discussion and does not resolve the question.