This guideline provides global, evidence-informed recommendations on a number of specific issues related to the management of severe acute malnutrition in infants and children. In conjunction with other World Health Organization (WHO) recommendations,1 it provides evidence-informed guidance on the care of infants and children with severe malnutrition, including in the context of HIV.
The guideline will help Member States and their partners in their efforts to make informed decisions on the appropriate nutrition actions for severely malnourished children, and contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), particularly reduction in child mortality (MDG 4). It will also support Member States in their efforts to achieve global targets on the maternal, infant and young child nutrition comprehensive implementation plan, especially global target 1, which entails achieving 40% reduction by 2025 of the global number of children under 5 years who are stunted and global target 6, which aims to reduce and maintain childhood wasting to less than 5%. (6). The guideline is intended for a wide audience, including policy-makers, their expert advisers, and technical and programme staff in organizations involved in the design, implementation and scaling-up of nutrition actions for public health. The guideline will form the basis for a revised manual on the management of severe malnutrition for physicians and other senior health workers), a training course on the management of severe malnutrition and other training materials.
This document presents the key recommendation and a summary of the supporting evidence.
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This guideline does not reflect all WHO recommendations related to the management of children with severe acute malnutrition but only those related to areas of care that were prioritized by the guideline development group advising WHO for this guideline. Relevant standing recommendations are included adjacent to updated recommendations, to contextualize updated recommendations.
