Using the Lives Saved Tool to inform global nutrition advocacy.

Abstract

The global nutrition community has been interested in investigating investment strategies that could be used to promote an increased focus and investment in nutrition programming in low- and middle-income countries. The Lives Saved Tool (LiST) was used to evaluate lives saved and the costs of nutrition interventions in nine high-burden countries. In this case study, we detail the analyses that were conducted with LiST and how the results were packaged to develop Nourish the Future - a five-year proposal for the US government to scale up lifesaving malnutrition interventions. Scaling up a proposed package of critical nutrition interventions including micronutrient supplementation for pregnant women, breastfeeding support, Vitamin A supplementation for children, and treatments for moderate and severe acute malnutrition is an effective and cost-effective way to avert millions of child deaths and stillbirths. This is one of the few case studies that outlines how a nutrition modeling tool (in this case LiST) was used to engage in a prioritisation exercise to inform a US-based advocacy ask. We share reflections and provide practical insights into user motivation and preferences for existing and future modeling tool developers. This case study also emphasises how integral evidence translation and strategic advocacy are to ensure the use of the modeling results.