Many children still go on to become severely malnourished, even when prevention
programs are in place, and these children will require treatment.
Hence therapeutic
programs are still needed as “safety nets” in parallel with prevention programs. Thus,
extensive benefit would ensue from more effective and widely available treatment of
severe mal- nutrition. Yet until recently, developing and applying better treatment methods
have low priority severe malnutrition can almost be regarded as a neglected disease. For
example, in the Lancet series on child survival, Lancet series on child survival, Lancet
management of severe malnutrition is not mentioned as a potentially lifesaving
intervention.