Marcos calls for laws to end malnourishment as PHL rolls out P9.7-B nutrition program
PRESIDENT Ferdinand R. Marcos, Jr. on Wednesday urged lawmakers to create laws that will stamp out malnutrition in the long term as the government launched a World Bank-funded nutrition program that will be rolled out in over 200 towns nationwide.
“Let me also take this opportunity to enjoin our lawmakers for their assistance in this endeavor by helping us develop and enshrine into law policies that will help eradicate malnutrition and uplift the standards of primary health care and nutrition in the Philippines,” he said in a speech during the launch of the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP).
The four-year program is financed by a $178.1-million or about P9.7-billion loan approved by the World Bank last year.
The lead implementers of the program are the Health department, which will handle about 70% of the fund, and the Social Welfare department with 30%.
“The PMNP aims to increase the utilization, expand the coverage and improve existing interventions to promote better health for children and women,” National Economic and Development Authority Secretary Arsenio M. Balisacan said during the launch, which was livestreamed by the state broadcast network.
It aims to implement nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions and improve key behaviors and practices known to reduce stunting in targeted localities.
“Last year, the Philippines was 69th out of 121 countries in the Global Hunger Index. Although this is considered as having a moderate level of hunger, we still face significant issues,” Health officer-in-charge Maria Rosario S. Vergeire said at the event.
Around 30% of Filipino children under the age of five are stunted.
“Our issues with nutrition go beyond access to food, these are affected by health, education, livelihood, social welfare and governance. We are aware of the intergenerational effect of malnutrition,” she said.
Stunting in children was lessened by as much as 8% three years after a similar project was implemented in other countries, Ms. Vergeire told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
“LGUs (local government units) can only access the grants if they reach the targets they will be setting,” she said, vowing to extend assistance to localities that are lagging behind.
Social Welfare Secretary Rexlon T. Gatchalian, for his part, said the project will boost public participation in identifying nutrition and health problems, and designing solutions.
“Through community-based nutrition service delivery, we can reach more people and make it more available to those who face barriers to healthcare,” he said.
The president cited the impact of malnutrition on the country’s human resources given its long-term adverse developmental effects on “people’s learning ability, academic performance, all the way to productivity and employment opportunities — and it also carries with it hereditary implications.” — Kyle Aristophere T. Atienza and Luisa Maria Jacinta C. Jocson
