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Letters
Breastfeeding:
Practice and
Policy Course
2005
Acourse on ‘Breastfeeding: Practice
and Policy Course 2005. Capacity
Building on Infant and Young Child
Feeding’ is to be held between the 13th
June - 8th July 2005 at the Centre for
International Child Health (CICH), Insitute
of Child Health and Great Ormond Street
Hospital for Children, University College
London (UCL). The course will be held in
collaboration with the World Health
Organisation (Department of Adolescent
and Child Health) and UNICEF (Nutrition
Section).
The course is now also available as 2
separate two week modules.
• Part 1. Breastfeeding and Public
Health: Essential Knowledge and
Skills 13th - 24th June.
• Part 2. Breastfeeding and Beyond:
Addressing Challenges to Optimal
Infant and Young Child Feeding. 27th
June - 8th July.
Courses can be taken as Certificate
Courses, or to earn MSc/ Diploma credits
under CICHs 'Taster Programme'. For
more information contact: The
Breastfeeding Course, Centre for
International Child Health, Institute of
Child Health, 30 Guilford St, London WC1
1EH. Fax+44 171 404 2062 email -
bfeed@ich.ucl.ac.uk. or visit
www.cich.ich.ucl.ac.uk/cich under teaching
programme.
Carol Williams: Course Director
Breastfeeding: Practice and Policy Course
Centre for International Child Health
Institute of Child Health, 30 Guilford St,
London, WC1N 1EH
Tel : 44 (0)20 7905 2122
Fax: 44 (0)20 7404 2062
email : bfeed@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Breastfeeding course web pages:
www.ich.ucl.ac.uk/cich under Teaching
Programme
Direct address:
carol@carowill.freewire.co.uk, or
cwilliams@ich.ucl.ac.uk
Emergency
Nutrition
Assessment
Guidelines for
field workers
SC UK have just produced a
new publication entitled
‘Emergency Nutrition
Assessment – Guidelines for field
workers’. These guidelines offer
straightforward, step-by-step guidance
on how to carry out a nutrition
assessment.
Emergency Nutrition
Assessment starts by looking at
how to assess potential causes of
malnutrition in emergencies. This is
followed by practical guidance on
how to conduct field surveys on the
prevalence of malnutrition and the
rate of mortality among under-fives;
and how to interpret the findings
and present your recommendations.
A separate section looks at how to
measure feeding programme coverage.
Software tools for use in designing
and analysing findings are
included on an accompanying CD-
Rom, which also contains key supporting
texts on nutrition assessment.
(Emergency Nutrition Assessment
is available for sale from NBN
International Tel: 01752 202301,
email orders@nbninternational.com
or go to
www.savethechildren.org.uk/
publications )
Catastrophes & Conflict Forum
Ameeting will be held on ‘Famine’ as part of the Catastrophes & Conflict
Forum at the Royal Society of Medicine in London. The date for the event
is the 15th June at 6.00 pm. Topics will include 'Malnutrition, media and
myths', 'Beyond the feeding centre' and 'Issues in food aid'. Book on-line at
http://www.rsm.ac.uk/catastrophes or contact Lulu Ho
mailto:catastrophes@rsm.ac.uk tel +44 (0)20 7290 2987, fax +44 (0)20 7290 2989
Nomenclature used in programs for tackling
malnutrition
Dear Editor,
The following terms, inter alia, have been
used in describing programs/centres.
CTC Community Therapeutic Care
TFC Therapeutic Feeding Centre
TFP Therapeutic Feeding Program
NRU Nutrition rehabilitation unit
NRC Nutrition rehabilitation centre
SNU Special Nutrition Unit
HT Home treatment (of severe malnutrition)
OPT Out-Patient Therapy (for severe mal
nutrition)
AC Ambulatory care (for severe malnutrition)
SC Stabilisation centre
P1C Phase 1 centre
DCC Day care centre
RDCC Residential Day care centre
SFC Supplementary Feeding Centre
SFP Supplementary Feeding Programe
The fact that there is such a myriad of
terms poses difficulties.
1) It is very confusing especially for those
not actively involved in the field.
2) Many of the terms are being used
incorrectly (not in the way the originator
of the terms intended). For example
CTC is frequently used as a synonym
for out patient/home treatment of
severe malnutrition.
3) Many of the terms are in fact descriptors
for the same, or nearly the same,
activity. They have been given different
names by different organisations. To
many readers this leads to the impression
that the activity is different or new
when in fact this is a minor “variation
on a theme”.
Community Therapeutic Care.
CTC, according to Collins.S (the originator
of the term) – is a holistic concept of an integrated
program that includes many other elements.
Indeed almost every activity that
leads to a good “Nutrition Program” seems
to be included under this rubric. Thus, it
includes a minimum of:
1) residential care for selected severely
malnourished,
2) outpatient management of eligible children
with severe malnutrition,
3) supplementary feeding program,
4) active case finding/community screen
ing,
5) active community involvement, mobilisation,
etc.. However it also includes,
among others,
6) integration with existing food security
programs, demonstration gardens,
diversification of local crops,
7) local manufacture of therapeutic products
(RUTF),
8) mother-to-mother and Hearth type programs,
9) integration with local public health
programs.
The term knows no bounds: it is a utopian
all-encompassing program that includes
everything that may impact upon the nutritional
status of the population. Indeed, the
inclusion of “therapeutic” in this context is
confusing and inappropriate – what Collins
describes is a “Holistic Nutrition
Program”. Many use the term CTC and home
(cont’d. over)
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