Gumi, Elvira B.

BSN 2D

The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness

The Integrated Management of Childhood Illness (IMCI) is an integrated approach to

child health that focuses on the well-being of the whole child (11). IMCI aims to
reduce death, illness and disability, and to promote improved growth and
development among infants and children aged less than 5 years. IMCI includes both
preventive and therapeutic elements that are implemented by families and
communities as well as by health workers in facilities.

In health facilities, the IMCI strategy focuses on infants and children presenting with
an illness and promotes the accurate identification of childhood illnesses in outpatient
settings, ensures appropriate combined treatment of all major illnesses, strengthens
the counselling of caregivers, and speeds up the referral of severely ill children.

IMCI consists of numerous clinical algorithms and training materials that assist nurses
and other primary health-care workers to manage sick infants and children presenting
to health facilities, and were developed largely to suit low-resource settings. IMCI
includes growth charts for infants aged 0–2 months and 2–59 months. Nutrition
assessment is integral to the evaluation of sick infants and children and is also central
to the care of the well child and promoting their health and development. IMCI
therefore includes algorithms for use by health workers based at primary health-care
facilities that reflect WHO recommendations on anthropometric assessment and infant
and child feeding. These are summarized in Fig. 1 and Fig. 2.

Figure 1: IMCI flow chart on anthropometric assessment and classification of

nutritional status (12).
Figure 2: IMCI counselling on infant and child feeding practices (12).