03/06/2014 Bihar, India: the first specialized center opens in children with severe acute malnutrition The State Health Society (SHS) Bihar has today opened a Intensive Care Unit for Malnourished (MICU for its acronym in English) to treat the most complicated cases of children with severe acute malnutrition in Darbhanga University Hospital (DMCH for short in English), in the state of Bihar. The MICU operate jointly with Doctors Without Borders (MSF) and the staff of the Ministry of Health of the DMCH. The MICU aims to improve access to treatment for children with more severe malnutrition district who also have medical complications. The opening of the MICU is a positive step towards the treatment of complicated cases of malnutrition in Bihar , showing that severe acute malnutrition is a medical condition that requires specific care and management within the public health system , says Geoffroy Duqué , head of MSF in India. Children with severe acute malnutrition can be treated at Community level, but there are other cases that have associated medical complications that require other care . The MICU is the Unit in which they receive treatment. Opened by the Director of the DMCH , Dr S. N. Sinha, the MICU is the first unit that opens in India with the specific objective of providing hospital medical and nutritional assistance to seriously ill children and high risk of mortality. Working closely with the DMCH , MSF medical staff will train until 2015 , thus ensuring proper training and continuity of work in Unity. It is an honor that the DMCH is the first institution in the country to provide tertiary care to malnourished children. Therefore, we are committed to the sustainability of the MICU , and hopefully precedent on standards for the management of malnutrition in Bihar. I am convinced that the opening of the MICU help eradicate malnutrition in the district of Darbhanga , says Dr. SN Sinha . According to the National Family Health Survey ( NFHS III) conducted by the Ministry of Health of India in 2005 /2006, it is estimated that 8.6% of Bihar children under five suffer from severe acute malnutrition. If we focus on more conservative estimates , reducing that figure to 3.5% , we would see that even then, only in the district of Darbhanga , the number of children with severe acute malnutrition stands at over 27,000. MSF has worked in India since 1999. In addition to the treatment of malnutrition , the humanitarian medical organization also works with the State Health Society of Bihar in the detection and treatment of kala azar , a neglected disease that is endemic in Bihar. In India, MSF also runs projects in Andhra Pradesh, Chattisgarh , Jammu & Kashmir , Maharashtra, Manipur and Nagaland. Since its inception over 40 years ago , MSF responds to child malnutrition through hundreds of projects located in over 60 countries. In India , MSF treats children with severe malnutrition in the state of Bihar, where a large number of them suffer malnutrition and associated seasonal periods of food shortage. In this country , MSF has focused on severe acute malnutrition , which is the most dangerous form of malnutrition that requires immediate medical attention , which is not usually accessible in Bihar. People with severe malnutrition, especially younger children , children lose muscle mass , which is why they look so thin. Your immune system is weakened and its ability to fight infection is greatly reduced . For this reason , children with severe malnutrition are much more likely to die frequent victims of childhood illnesses such as respiratory infections and diarrhea . In Biraul area , belonging to the district of Darbhanga in Bihar , MSF has been using a community approach , widely known as CMAM ( Community Management of Acute Malnutrition or Community Management of Acute Malnutrition ) to treat most children with severe malnutrition in primary care . To date, according to this model have already been treated approximately 13,000 children . This focus on the care and treatment to patients and their families , improves coverage and reduces the risk of treatment interruptions . MSF is committed to working with the Indian government , the medical community and civil society in the treatment of severe acute malnutrition. The first step towards this is the recognition that children affected by this disease in India need urgent medical attention form .
Posted on: Fri, 21 Mar 2014 09:10:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015