State of SAM coverage: An overview from 2013 & 2014

Programme coverage is one of the most useful and reliable indicators to measure the performance of Community Based Management of Acute Malnutrition (CMAM) programmes. There are many indicators (e.g. cure rates, average length of stay, average weight gain) to measure effectiveness, but only treatment coverage provides a reliable measure of impact, by measuring the proportion of needs met by an intervention. The recent development of comprehensive and innovative coverage monitoring tools (including SQUEAC and SLEAC) by Valid International/Food and Nutrition Technical Assistance (FANTA) has provided the means by which to measure programme coverage practically and easily.

The importance of coverage has been recognised in the Lancet and by the SUN movement. Treatment has significantly increased from approximately 1,000,000 in 2009 to 2,900,000 in 20122. To better understand the challenges to service delivery, The State of SAM Coverage was released in 2012. Since then there have been no global updates. The 2012 report estimated that 7 to 13 per cent of the SAM caseload was being treated.