Extracts below and a comment from me. Read online: https://www.unicef.org/press-releases/fast-facts-30-years-life-saving-th...
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NEW YORK, 5 May 2026 – For three decades, a small sachet of fortified peanut paste has been one of the most powerful tools to combat severe wasting – the deadliest form of malnutrition – in children under five. Today, more than 12 million children globally are suffering from severe wasting. As conflict, climate shocks, and funding pressures escalate, ensuring a predictable and uninterrupted supply of Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) is more critical than ever.
First developed in 1996, RUTF transformed the treatment of severe wasting by enabling children without medical complications to be treated at home, reducing reliance on hospitalisation, cost to families, and lowering the risk of secondary infections.
Today, RUTF – as part of a community-based approach to treat wasting in children – has transformed the way life-saving care and treatment is delivered. It has contributed to historic lows in preventable child deaths worldwide. While the 30-year milestone marks major progress in public health, it is also a call to action: the full range of nutrition treatment, including with therapeutic milk, must be scaled up so that it can withstand supply shocks, reduce costs, and help ensure every child who needs it has uninterrupted access to therapeutic food.
“This small, but powerful, sachet of therapeutic food fundamentally changed the way that we treat children with severe malnutrition,” said UNICEF Executive Director Catherine Russell. “I have seen how children suffering from wasting come alive when they’re treated with RUTF. It has empowered families by putting life‑saving treatment into their hands. No child should die from malnutrition in a world of plenty....
RUTF is highly successful, with a recovery rate of nearly 90 per cent for those suffering from severe acute malnutrition...'
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COMMENT (NPW): Do you have experience of using RUTF in your practice? I remember several years ago there was some scepticism on CHIFA, but this may have shifted. Are child health workers fully aware of its benefits and when and how to use it? How accessible is it and when should the emphasis be on RUTF versus local foods?
Best wishes, Neil
HIFA profile: Neil Pakenham-Walsh is coordinator of HIFA (Healthcare Information For All), a global health community that brings all stakeholders together around the shared goal of universal access to reliable healthcare information. HIFA has 20,000 members in 180 countries, interacting in four languages and representing all parts of the global evidence ecosystem. HIFA is administered by Global Healthcare Information Network, a UK-based nonprofit in official relations with the World Health Organization. Email: neil@hifa.org