Death Rate

What: It represents the proportion of discharged children who died from any cause while registered in the program. Why: The death rate is one of the four core performance indicators of malnutrition treatment programs. It describes the size of the outcome that is to be avoided. When: To measure the outcome of CMAM programs (MAM and SAM)

Divide the number of children who died while registered in the treatment program by the total number of discharged children and multiply the result by 100. The resulting number is the death rate (in percentage).

Disaggregate the data by gender, treatment location/ geographic area, age group and (if relevant) specific vulnerable groups, such as children from minority groups. Note, disaggregation by gender is only possible if the CMAM database records cases in this way.

1) The indicator does not require a separate survey – all data can be gained from the treatment program’s regular records (registration book) and may be calculated in the CMAM database.

2) According to the Sphere Standards, in the case of severe acute malnutrition (SAM), a death rate of less than 10% is perceived as “acceptable” (note: in practice, the death rate in many programs is less than 5%). In the case of moderate acute malnutrition (MAM), the threshold is 3%.

3) The four core performance indicators of an malnutrition treatment program (esp. the Community Management of Acute Malnutrition, CMAM), including supplementary feeding programs (SFP) and outpatient therapeutic program (OTP) and inpatient program or stabilization center (IP/ SC)) are recovery rate, death rate, defaulter rate and non-recovery rate. They need to be reported together because they are interlinked (should add up to 100%).