The purchase accounts for 22 percent of global order
In its single largest global purchase to date, UNICEF—through the contribution of donors—made its biggest support of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) and other supplies which include therapeutic milk, routine drugs and hygiene and sanitation commodities as part of its response to the drought conditions in Ethiopia.
The supply of RUTF procured by UNICEF to date in response to the current emergency conditions in Ethiopia is worth some USD 28 million including cost of freight and in-country distribution.
This purchase was the single largest for UNICEF in its history. UNICEF has procured 543,631 cartons of RUTF which represents 22 percent of the global order in 2015.
To accommodate this large volume of supplies and enhance preparedness for the drought response, UNICEF has also rented a new warehouse earlier this year located in Addis Ababa around Gerji area.
The warehouse, where RUTF and other commodities are stored, was inaugurated yesterday at the presence of Kebede Worku, state minister of Health, Gillian Mellsop, UNICEF Country Representative to Ethiopia, and other partners.
“The 2015 drought has no comparison as far as drought and emergency conditions in Ethiopia are concerned. So, in terms of the scale and the extent of coverage, this is the largest drought yet. The Government of Ethiopia is addressing this problem in collaboration with its partners,” Kebede said during the inauguration ceremony.
He also stated that, in terms of managing the acute malnutrition, a number of steps have been taken in collaboration with both UNICEF and other partners and so far the outcomes have been encouraging.
“Having this support through UNICEF, we will continue to work not fail our people who need our help. So far, we haven’t heard any complaint from the public as far as severe acute malnutrition management and health response is concerned. However, we still need to work on issues relating to moderate acute malnutrition which we need to address,” Kebede added.
Regarding priority areas for the support, the state minister told The Reporter that the drought has affected more than 400 weredas directly or indirectly. 186 weredas were identified as highly affected areas by the drought; however, the RUTF will be distributed throughout the affected areas irrespective of severity of conditions, he added.
Mellsop on her part said: “One of our key support mechanisms for the Ethiopian Government in responding to the drought is through the nutrition program which treats children’s with severe acute malnutrition program.”
Usually, a child, who had severe acute malnutrition, can be cured within six weeks if properly treated with RUTF; if the child does not pass the appetite test and might have some medical complications then they are referred to the health center.
Ethiopia is experiencing one of the worst droughts in decades, the main rainy season, which is vital for producing over 80 percent of the country’s agricultural yield has failed for two consecutive seasons.
“As a result, in 2016, six million children are reported to be at a risk of hunger, disease and lack of water in Ethiopia,” Mellsop said.
Malnutrition rates have significantly increased and 450,000 children are expected to be treated for severe acute malnutrition in 2016.A further 2.2 million children and pregnant and lactating women are also expected to be treated for moderate acute malnutrition in the same period.
With the continued efforts of the government and the support of humanitarian actors, 350,451 children were treated for severe acute malnutrition in 2015.
RUTF also known as Plumpy’nut is a brand name for a high protein and high-energy peanut-based paste that tastes slightly sweeter than peanut better. It requires no water for preparation or refrigerator and has a two-year shelf life, making it easy to deploy in difficult conditions to treat severe acute malnutrition.
It is distributed under medical supervision, predominately to parents of malnourished children where the nutritional status of the children has been assessed by a doctor or a nutritionist.
