THE VHT – FAMILY LED MUAC TRAINING CONDUCTED IN MATANY HOSPITAL ON THE 2ND APRIL, 2022
MUAC (Mid-upper arm circumference) is another anthropometric measure that requires minimal equipment and little training.
The objective of the training that was conducted in Matany was to train VHTs to be able to train household care givers (parents) on how to take the MUAC of their children at household level and then report to VHTs if the MUAC reading is either red or yellow.
The MoH report from the routine Health Management Information System indicates that the number of severe and acute malnutrition admission numbers doubled between January 2020 and October 2021.
Worse still, the recent national report shows that nearly 6.9% of the Ugandan population is food insecure, with infants and young children often bearing the brunt of nutrition deficiency.
Consequently, children’s brain and body development are being compromised negatively, impacting their cognitive potential irreversible. This is why there is need to make critical and immediate screening in households, thus justifying the training of household care givers.
The training was conducted and headed by the Nutrition Unit Staff of Matany Hospital, CN Lotukei Anna and volunteering Diploma student in Nutrition and Dietetics, Ngorok John. The training was supported by UNICEF, through Moroto Regional Referral Hospital.
The overseer of the exercise was Nangiro Ambrose, Health Inspector, Matany Town Council
It involved 37 VHTs, one per village identified.
The exercise was recommended to start immediately and report at the end of the month of April 2022, then follow up to be conducted immediately

