When her 11-month old son, Abdulnasir, refused to breastfeed or eat his food, Amina knew something was seriously wrong with him. He had had diarrhea, vomiting and fever for more than a week, but it was when he kept crying in pain, stopped feeding altogether and got very weak that she got alarmed and brought him to Gode Hospital in Somali Region.  Following thorough examination upon arrival at the hospital, Amina was informed that her baby was suffering from severe acute malnutrition (SAM) with dehydration due to diarrhea and vomiting, and that he would need to be admitted to the SAM Treatment Center at the hospital. Dehydration is one of the common medical complications in children with severe acute malnutrition, contributing to morbidity and death. 

The doctors immediately put Abdulnasir on first-line treatment for SAM with medical complications, rehydrated him and also immediately placed him on F75 therapeutic milk to stabilize him, later adding plumpy nut therapeutic food to his diet. At admission, his weight for height was less than -3, and he was stunted. After 7 days of treatment, Abdulnasir’s appetite returned, and he was moved from the Stabilization section to the Transition section in the SAM treatment ward. The health workers managing the ward daily check his vital signs and monitor his weight.  

If Abdulnasir’s condition continues to improve, he will be moved to the rehabilitation ward from which he will be discharged and enrolled in the outpatient therapeutic program (OTP), where he will be fed plumpy nut weekly at the hospital for at least eight weeks.

Amina expressed her gratitude to the hospital staff for treating her son and following up his recovery.  “I have four children aged 8, 7, 4 years, and this 11-month-old. All are precious to me. My heart is torn for leaving my other three and staying here this long. But I am willing to stay as long as it takes to restore my baby’s health,” she says. “Times are hard, but I am thankful that such treatment is available and that it helped save my son’s life. God bless the doctors that are caring for him.” Amina is a housewife in a destitute household in Gode town. Her husband has physical disability and finds it difficult to provide for his family, so she often resorts to doing daily labour at households or, on bad days, begging for alms. Poverty, coupled with the drought in Somali Region, has had an impact on the nutritional status of her family. 

The World Health Organization (WHO) provides medicines and medical supplies to Gode Hospital for use at the SAM Treatment Center. WHO Ethiopia staff based in Gode also train and coach the staff of the treatment center, working with them closely to provide guidance and advice as needed.   

With support from partners like the European Union Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid and the United Kingdom Foreign, Common Wealth and Development Office, the World Health Organization (WHO) provides medicines and medical supplies to Gode Hospital for use at the SAM Treatment Center. WHO Ethiopia staff based in Gode also train and coach the staff of the treatment center, working with them closely to provide guidance and advice as needed.