Evidence for Action: Coverage and Access gaps in Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition in Kapilvastu district of Nepal

Wasting remains a critical public health concern in Nepal, with many children unable to access timely treatment inspite of national programmatic efforts. Despite implementation of the program since 2012/13 to address acute malnutrition, the evidence about the program coverage and factors supporting as well as hindering the program coverage is lacking in Kapilvastu district. The SQUEAC approach was implemented in three stages using a mixed-method design. Stage I involved qualitative data collection through key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observations in 18 locations. Stage II tested a hypothesis about proximity and coverage via small-area surveys adopting active adaptive and door-to-door case finding. Quantitative data from DHIS-2 and IMAM registers were analyzed for trends and performance indicators, while qualitative data were thematically analyzed and triangulated across participants, types and methods. A Barriers, Boosters, and Questions (BBQ) scoring exercise informed prior coverage estimation. Upon validation and confirmation of the hypothesis, wide area survey was conducted to estimate the coverage of the program. The assessment identified 14 boosters, ranging from active involvement of trained Female Community Health Volunteers (FCHVs) and Health Workers (HWs), strong community trust in frontline workers, to the consistent availability of Ready to Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF) in health facilities. Similarly, 24 barriers were identified which ranged from poor economic conditions, limited awareness of malnutrition among families, to cultural beliefs that prioritize traditional healers over modern healthcare. The other barriers included logistical challenges such as distance to OTCCs, stockouts of essential commodities, and high turnover rates among trained health workers. The assessment validated the hypothesis “Coverage of the program is high in communities having low concentration of DAG and low in communities having high concentration of DAG in both rural and urban context”. Upon validation of the hypothesis, wide area survey was conducted which estimated the coverage at 22.9%, with a confidence interval of 14.3% to 34.8%. The point coverage of the program was found to be 6.67% while the period coverage, which accounts for both enrolled and recently recovered cases, was found to be 12.5%. The IMAM program in Kapilvastu faced challenges on both service delivery side as well as service seeking sides. On the service delivery side, it faced systemic challenges. These included inadequate capacity building or refresher to human resources, unavailability of IMAM guidelines and protocols, stock out of RUTF, and deviation from IMAM protocols. It was found that the children enrolled in IMAM program who received RUTF for treatment, were distributed super cereal once they fell in MAM category, deviating from IMAM protocol which strictly instructs to provide RUTF until the case is completely recovered.