Ghana

Building the evidence for SQ-LNS delivery at scale

Small-quantity lipid-based nutrient supplements (SQ-LNS) reduce stunting and anemia in young children, but how to deliver them sustainably and acceptably at scale remains largely untested. Closing that gap is a central focus of the lab’s work in Ghana.

The anchor of this work is the SQ-LNS-7 trial, led in collaboration with Prof. Seth Adu-Afarwuah (Department of Nutrition and Food Science, University of Ghana) as co-PI. The trial tests whether different packaging and delivery approaches improve adherence to and acceptability of SQ-LNS among caregivers receiving care within the Ghana Health Service. It is funded by Edesia Nutrition registered on ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT07129109). Enrollment begins in 2026.

Building on this foundation, we have pending proposals to test the integration of SQ-LNS into other service contact points where vulnerable children are already reached, including pediatric severe acute malnutrition (SAM) treatment and tuberculosis care. Together, this work asks not only whether SQ-LNS can be delivered effectively, but how it can reach children across the multiple points where the health system already touches their lives.

ObaaPa: a digital nutrition resource for Ghanaian families

ObaaPa — “good mother” in Twi — is a maternal and child nutrition app co-designed with the Ghana Health Service. It delivers stage-based nutrition and infant-feeding guidance from pregnancy through early childhood, in English and Twi, and is built to work even where internet connectivity is limited. Content is developed by University of Ghana and Boston University faculty in partnership with the Ghana Health Service and UNICEF, so that what reaches families reflects both national guidelines and local context. The app has been developed for iOS and Android.

ObaaPa is designed to grow into a national resource delivered through the government health system, not a standalone consumer app. The next phase, for which we are seeking corporate and philanthropic support, expands the app’s content and adds two features built for trust and scale: a conservative digital assistant that answers common questions and consistently directs families to their own health providers, and facility-level linkage that connects each woman to the health worker who already cares for her. The model is built for sustainability — external funding to develop and test the tools, and Ghana Health Service ownership to sustain them once they are proven.

Integrating nutrition into pediatric TB care

Drawing on the lab’s TB-LION collaboration in India, this work brings nutrition and pediatric TB together in Ghana through partnership with the National Tuberculosis Programme, the Ghana Health Service, UNICEF Ghana, the University of Ghana, and the Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research. Together these partners are developing approaches to integrate nutritional support into pediatric TB prevention and treatment. The work is supported by the Boston University Global Development Policy Center.

In-country Partners

• University of Ghana, Department of Nutrition and Food Science
• Noguchi Memorial Institute for Medical Research
• Ghana Health Service
• Ghana National Tuberculosis Programme
• UNICEF Ghana