This story is about tackling severe malnutrition among children with cancer in Uganda by creating a practical, low-cost nutrition solution within hospitals.

Malnutrition is extremely common in these patients and worsens survival and treatment outcomes. Many hospitals can’t provide adequate nutrition because standard meals are insufficient and commercial therapeutic foods are too expensive or unreliable.

To solve this, a program called “Food as Medicine,” led by a partnership between IIPAN and the Uganda Cancer Institute, set up a hospital-based kitchen that prepares nutritious, locally made foods using affordable ingredients. With trained staff and tailored recipes, they provide calorie- and protein-rich meals to children undergoing cancer treatment.

The result is a highly effective, scalable model: nearly all severely malnourished children in the program now receive proper nutritional support, improving care and offering a sustainable solution for similar low-resource settings.

To read the full story, click “Country Story from Uganda.”