Acceptability test of Plumpy'Mum™ by a Malagasy mum.
The Plumpy® range
The lipid-based Ready-to-Use Foods for the treatment or prevention of Acute Malnutrition belong to the Plumpy® range.
These products:
- aim to fill the energy, macro- and micronutrient, and essential fatty acids gap of targeted beneficiaries.
- are designed for the treatment or prevention of acute malnutrition or for use in emergencies and situations of acute food shortage when energy, macro- and micronutrients, and essential fatty acids requirements cannot be met by locally available/accessible foods, or when the state of the patient requires it.
Plumpy® products are usually distributed alongside with communication campaign raising awareness about breastfeeding, good practices in infant and young children feeding (IYCF), and other key health messages (e.g. hand washing). The breastfeeding logo is on all our products..
Zoom on the design of Plumpy’Nut®
From the early 1990s, F-75 and F-100 therapeutic milks have been used as a major solution in the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). These products are still the benchmark for the treatment of children with medical complications and / or little appetite and who therefore should remain in therapeutic feeding centers. Michel Lescanne, founder of Nutriset, looked for new solutions to facilitate access to these therapeutic milks and respond to strong constraints encountered in the field. It was a question of finding a nutritional solution more convenient to use, allowing a less heavy follow-up and a decentralization of the care of the children.
It is a collaboration with Dr. André Briend of the IRD (Institute for development research), which gave birth to the first Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF): Plumpy'Nut®.
For the stakeholders of the humanitarian aid, this product was a major innovation: it did not require any preparation before consumption, it could be easily handled by the children and their mothers, and its format makes the outpatient care now possible.
Whereas children with severe acute malnutrition used to be hospitalized to follow their treatment, with Plumpy'Nut® their follow-up could be done at the community level. Once a child was identified and referred to the therapeutic nutritional center and after his/her medical examination, he/she and his/her mother returned home with a weekly ration of Plumpy'Nut® sachets intended for his/her treatment. The continuation of the treatment was ensured by regular medical visits until the complete nutritional rehabilitation of the child. This ease in treatment has significantly increased the rate of care and good monitoring of treatment.
In the space of a few years, the effectiveness and acceptability of Plumpy'Nut® were confirmed, scientific studies in support. In 2007, WHO and UNICEF issued a joint statement indicating RUTFs as reference product in the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition.
