Predicting resource requirements for programmes treating children with severe acute malnutrition

When an emergency occurs, and large numbers of children with severe acute malnutrition (SAM) are to be treated, programme managers have to know, usually within a short period of time, the number of SAM children they will have to treat in the next few months (usually in the next 12 months). This is needed in particular for funding requests, as the number of patients to be treated has a direct implication on the number of staff to recruit and on the quantity of specialized nutritional products to order. This problem also occurs for moderately malnourished children. As the problematic is somewhat different than for severe malnutrition, this project will only focus on severe malnutrition, but taking into account potential interactions with moderate malnutrition.