SAM Photo App

Action Against Hunger has developed the Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) Photo app to detect life-threatening malnutrition in children around the world.

Historically, the most common way of identifying malnutrition is by using a MUAC band – a plastic tape which uses a colour scale to indicate levels of undernutrition. Despite the availability of treatment for SAM, 75% of children with SAM never receive help because current diagnostics are slow and inaccurate. Compared to MUAC measurements, the SAM Photo app is quicker, less invasive, more accurate and reduces human error in data collection. Results from app testing on over 4,300 children have shown an incredibly high accuracy rate of 90% in identifying cases of SAM. Rolling Action Against Hunger's innovation out globally would be a step toward achieving the Sustainable Development Goal 2.2 to end all forms of malnutrition by 2030.