Post authored by Alix Emden, Medic Mobile’s Administrative Associate, and Mercy Simiyu, Partnerships and Communications Manager for Africa.
March is National Nutrition Month! Access to health and nutrition services remains a huge challenge globally; malnutrition, like many other diseases, is most pronounced in low and middle-income countries. Since 2015, Medic Mobile has worked to expand our toolkit to support provision of community-based nutrition assessments and referrals worldwide.
Malnutrition is the single greatest contributor to child mortality (53% globally) (WHO 2010). Today in Kenya, an estimated 2.1 million children are stunted; this is a serious national development concern as these children will never reach their full physical and mental potential (KNAP 2012).
Medic Mobile partners with organizations around the world, utilizing community-based workforces to widen coverage, save time and resources for families, and improve nutrition outcomes. We have configured and adapted our toolkits for use by Community Health Workers (CHWs) – doorstep health assessors who are often the first-line identifiers of children with vulnerable nutritional statuses. Our nutrition workflows cover many of the basic community health tenets adopted by national Ministries of Health in Africa and in Asia.
This month, we will highlight seven of our projects around the world. In each, CHWs are using Medic Mobile’s toolkits to provide doorstep care to assess patient nutritional status in resource-limited settings. Follow along on Twitter and Facebook to learn more about what we have achieved so far and what we are looking to achieve this year!
- International Medical Corps – Kenya
- IsraAID – Kenya
- Living Goods – Kenya & Uganda
- Muso – Mali
- Baglung District Health Office – Nepal
- East Bali Poverty Project – Indonesia
- Children in Crisis – Guatemala
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