The Department of Health Research (DHR) and the Department of Biotechnology (DBT) in association with the ministry of health and family welfare will soon begin research in the area of medical management of children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM).
An alliance has been formed between the DHR, DBT and ministry of health and family welfare to support research to generate evidence for development of practical and scalable regimens to medically rehabilitate children suffering from Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) without serious complications at home/community level and/or at peripheral inpatient facilities.
Severe Acute Malnutrition without complications is defined as: weight for height <-3 SD of World Health Organization (WHO) growth reference; no loss of appetite; no danger sign of illness requiring hospitalization; and no chronic medical disorders.
The study will focus on the operationally feasible approach to identify children in the community who have SAM without complications using currently available community workers and resources. It will also focus on comparison of different therapeutic regimes incorporating dietary, nutritional and supportive care components in the community and peripheral health facilities for management of SAM without complications.
Scientific justification for the choice of intervention and control therapeutic regime should be explicitly stated. Primary outcomes of the proposed research study should include recovery from SAM in the short term as well as sustenance of recovery (at least 6 months after starting treatment). Secondary outcomes should include acceptability, feasibility and safety of the regimes being tested. The studies can be designed as individual or cluster randomized or quasi randomized controlled trials.
The research will also focus on the indigenous development of product(s) suitable for rehabilitation of SAM children and also on development of stable and acceptable multi-micronutrient and mineral mixture used as part of regimes for management of SAM.
The proposed studies may be single or multi-centric by public funded or not for profit institutions. Non-Government Organizations are also eligible to participate in the study.