[ExI] (The Independent 2013-08) Plumpy'Nut: The lifesaver that costs... well, peanuts
Tomasz Rola
rtomek at ceti.pl
Tue Sep 17 00:44:58 UTC 2013
(It's about special food used for treatment accute malnutrition. According
to UNICEF, there are millions - 6.9 in 2011 - preventable children death
each year. Fortunately, the number dropped 50% from 12 mln in 1990.
Preventable means, lack of vaccine which cost less than about 0.1 green
alone or less than 1 green with portable fridge for transporting more of
it, longer distance. For more details, see "UNICEF Annual Report 2012",
http://www.unicef.org/publications/index_69639.html . I have quite a few
of my own problems, probably bigger than most of readers, but I have just
bought a month, maybe two worth of this Plumpy. It's easy, they welcome
any money at unicef.org - or, go find your regional office's website. So,
I am sure you can easily beat me at this stunt, or forward this to your
innumerable buddies, challenging them in my name - TR)
[
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/africa/plumpynut-the-lifesaver-that-costs-well-peanuts-8783650.html
]
(... links deleted ...)
Plumpy'Nut: The lifesaver that costs... well, peanuts
A nut paste used as a home-grown weapon in Africa's struggle against
acute child malnutrition goes global
[92]Sarah Morrison Author Biography
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Sarah Morrison
Sarah Morrison is a general reporter at The Independent and The
Independent on Sunday.
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Sunday 25 August 2013
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It was dubbed the wonder product that "may just be the most important
advance ever" when it comes to battling acute child hunger. Now the
life-saving peanut paste, first trialled during a famine in Niger
eight years ago, is reaching two million of the world's most severely
malnourished children a year.
The beauty of Plumpy'Nut, which was once said to be as important as
the discovery of penicillin, is in its simplicity. The high-energy
peanut-based paste, invented by a crusading French paediatrician,
includes skimmed milk powder, sugar, vegetable fat and vitamins and
minerals. It does not need clean water to swallow; it does not need to
be cooked or refrigerated, and it stays fresh after opening. It can
also be given to any child in the most advanced stage of malnutrition,
anywhere, by anyone.
Experts say the paste has "radically" changed the care of severely
malnourished children in developing countries. Importantly, it has
allowed them to be treated in their homes, rather than in hospitals,
and it has "drastically" reduced their mortality rates. Now, with
increased supply in the developing world, experts suggest that
Plumpy'Nut, alongside generic versions of the product, could become
Africa's "home-grown" cure for severe acute malnutrition. It could
even, they add, be used to prevent it. This is no small feat:
malnutrition is a major killer of children under five, accounting for
around one million deaths annually, but affecting an estimated 20
million children worldwide.
Unicef, the world's biggest buyer of high-energy peanut paste, bought
enough last year to feed two million children, a 15-fold increase over
the past eight years, and the highest amount on record. Nearly half of
that came from African suppliers.
For Jan Komrska, a contracts specialist at Unicef's nutrition unit,
reaching the two-million-children-a-year mark was a "milestone". He
added that the actual figure is likely to be even higher, as Unicef
and other NGOs account only for 80 per cent of total sales. "It's the
highest number of children we have ever reached and we want to keep it
at that level," he told the IoS. He added that Unicef had been working
to "motivate manufacturers to open sites in Africa", so that the
product can be produced in the countries where it is used.
There was just one supplier producing the paste in 2005; now, there
are 19 Unicef-approved producers in countries with some of the highest
rates of malnutrition in the world - including Sudan, Haiti, Burkina
Faso, Ethiopia, India and Niger. Six of the factories in Africa are
franchises of the French company Nutriset, producing Plumpy'Nut, while
five produce generic versions. Three were approved in 2012 alone.
Things have changed radically since 2005, when the Plumpy'Nut paste
was marketed by Nutriset. It was first given to around 60,000 children
with severe acute malnutrition during the famine in Niger. Ninety per
cent recovered completely. Within two years, the World Health
Organisation gave the product its seal of approval.
During the famine in the Horn of Africa two years ago, around 240,000
children were fed Plumpy'Nut. Now, the product is patented in 38
countries across the world. And despite patent battles - two American
NGOs unsuccessfully fought for the right to overturn the company's
patent in 2010, arguing that it hindered them from making a similar
and cheaper paste - the supply is increasing.
Nutriset set up a franchise and now works with producers in 11
countries in Africa, Asia and America. Just over 40 per cent of its
product now comes from abroad. And while the company argues that its
patent supports local production and "protect[s] them from major
competitors", generic pastes have also been made in countries such as
India and South Africa.
Ismael Barmou, 32, is the deputy executive director of the only
Plumpy'Nut factory in Niger, which opened three years ago. It is
estimated that this year, the factory, which employs more than 90
people, will produce enough paste to treat 300,000 cases of severe
acute malnutrition. Mr Barmou said that having a locally made product
is essential to combating malnutrition.
"If you import peanut paste to Niger, it takes about three months to
reach us. We look at the projections of what is needed for children,
and we work to that," he said. "This peanut paste is incredible. It
can turn the balance from a negative curve to the kid being back
almost to normal; that is amazing."
For Meera Shekar, the World Bank's lead health specialist for Africa,
the paste could very well be a "home-grown solution" to severe acute
malnutrition, so long as local ownership and production increases and
the advantages of economies of scale are seized. It currently costs
around $50 (Ł30) to treat a child for up to two months. If the price
is lowered, Ms Shekar believes it could be used as a "preventative" as
well as a cure.
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