Benefits of a Household WASH Package to Community-based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) Program, Chad

Hygiene promotion sessions are provided weekly to the caretakers at the health center level. They contain 7 main messages this study is trying to get across: Allocate a protected space for children to play, limiting the likelihood of them ingesting soil or animal feces; Wash the child with soap (hand, face) when outside the protected area; Cleaning and rapid burial of children's stools; Key times for hand washing with soap for the child caretaker; Store drinking water in a closed container located in an elevated place out of reach of animals; Drinking water provided to the child should be treated with chlorine or boiled; Once weaned, avoid giving to the child leftover food, or only after warming it again.

The content of the kit: 200 g soap, aquatab 67 g, 20 liters Jerry can, a cup, a plastic kettle for hand washing and the instructions leaflet.

A household visit conducted by village's community health volunteers and ACF intervention staff during and after the treatment, to provide refresh training on the messages and the use of the kit.

Group discussions on hygiene and care practices with mothers at the community level after successful discharge.

Home-based treatment and rehabilitation using Ready-to-use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) for children with severe acute malnutrition