New action plan vs. malnutrition targets food security, says council
New action plan vs. malnutrition targets food security, says council
National Nutrition Council Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang says that the new Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2023 - 2028 (PPAN) will not only focus on nutrition alone but also on food security that will provide Filipino families access to affordable, safe, and adequate nutritious food.
Video and Interview by Ezrah Raya
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National Nutrition Council Executive Director Azucena Dayanghirang says that the new Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2023 - 2028 (PPAN) will not only focus on nutrition alone but also on food security that will provide Filipino families access to affordable, safe, and adequate nutritious food.
Video and Interview by Ezrah Raya
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Visit our website at https://www.manilatimes.net
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Transcript
00:00 I'm Ezra Araya and this is the Manila Times.
00:03 The National Nutrition Council led the launching of the new Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition,
00:09 or PIPAN.
00:11 The five-year action plan is aimed at solving stunting and malnutrition among children in
00:16 the country.
00:17 This is the 11th national plan to eradicate undernutrition since 1974.
00:23 Previous data show that 21.4% Filipino children under five years old have high levels of stunting.
00:32 Stunting is defined as the irreversible impaired growth and development caused by poor nutrition.
00:38 Some experts would claim that child stunting or malnutrition is linked to the country's
00:43 learning poverty, which is currently at 90%.
00:47 Department of Health Secretary Ted Herbosa said that PIPAN would serve as the blueprint
00:52 to guide government as well as non-governmental organizations, academe, and the private sector
00:59 in a coordinated effort to reduce all forms of malnutrition.
01:04 Here with us is National Nutrition Council Executive Director, Assistant Secretary Azucena
01:10 Dayanghirang.
01:11 Welcome to the Manila Times, ma'am.
01:15 Asic, PIPAN is not something new.
01:17 The five-year action plan for nutrition is being done and renewed with every new administration
01:22 since 1974.
01:23 So tell us, ma'am, how can the new PIPAN solve child stunting and malnutrition among kids
01:30 when the previous PIPAN implemented from 2017 to 2022 did not solve malnutrition?
01:37 So what's the new approach or edge of the new PIPAN, ma'am?
01:40 Okay, so thank you very much for that question.
01:43 Really, allow me first to clarify that it is not the NNC alone that will combat malnutrition,
01:51 but it will be a whole government approach.
01:54 It will be multisectoral and multilevel from the national government agency down to the
02:00 subnational level and most especially up to the local government units that will really
02:05 address the multiple causes of malnutrition with NNC as the coordinating agency.
02:13 And also, the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition actually provides the guide.
02:18 This is our framework.
02:20 This is our blueprint to guide on how we will implement everything that is inserted or incorporated
02:30 in the PIPAN.
02:31 So actually, it is a mix of interventions that really provide services that directly
02:39 address the basic cause of malnutrition and other causes, intervening causes, underlying
02:46 causes of malnutrition.
02:48 And these are what we call nutrition-specific services like the feeding programs that we
02:54 have, the health services specific to pregnant and lactating women, and most especially children.
03:00 So during the prenatal checkups of mothers and also the postnatal health services.
03:08 And for newborns, we have the immunization and the provision of iron folic acid as well
03:14 as vitamin A supplementation.
03:16 Now how is this different from the predecessor PIPAN?
03:21 Actually this PIPAN for 2023 to 2028 not only addresses the multiple causes of malnutrition,
03:28 but it also addresses food security, allowing individuals and families access to affordable
03:36 and safe and adequate nutritious food, not only through the market, but also by helping
03:43 them set up their own food gardens.
03:47 There are also interventions that ensure food is always on the table, either through direct
03:53 giving of food like family food packs during emergencies and through the four Ps or cash
03:58 transfers.
03:59 And there are also other interventions that provide livelihood to our farmers and fishery
04:05 folks.
04:06 Like for example, we have also feeding programs and the recently launched food stamp program
04:11 by the DSWD.
04:12 Actually the food stamp program is a convergent program.
04:15 This is an example of a multisectoral approach.
04:18 For example, DSWD is taking charge of the food that are distributed to the 34 PIPAN
04:26 focused provinces areas.
04:28 And then NNC will take care of the provision of specialized food for pregnant women, as
04:36 well as the complimentary food for children, two years and below.
04:42 So the ingredients for the hot meals served in the feeding programs are fresh farm produce,
04:48 which we will be buying directly from the farmers themselves and also for the food stamp
04:55 program.
04:56 So DSWD also partnered with DA for the food items that can be bought through the electronic
05:02 benefit transfer, the EBT card.
05:04 So they gave the beneficiaries of the program, and which are actually the first line is on
05:10 the bottom 1 million households based in Talistanan, as well as the PIPAN focused provinces.
05:17 So let me add further that the key implementers are the local government units, because these
05:23 are where the malnourished children are located, and these are where the nutritionally at risk
05:28 pregnant women are located, which the local government units really have the mandate to
05:34 deliver nutrition related services in communities.
05:37 They are also encouraged to develop what we call the local nutrition action plans, aligned
05:42 with the new PIPAN, and provide the corresponding budget as well, because without a plan, they
05:49 really, a failure to make a plan would mean they really don't have enough resources.
05:59 Where will they get their budget for the animal investment plans?
06:03 So I think that is the highlight of the PIPAN for 2023.
06:10 Back to you, Ma'am.
06:11 Ma'am, how does the NNC plan to combat malnutrition among children in economically challenged
06:17 communities?
06:18 So, for example, if you're talking about food security or the access to affordable, safe,
06:22 and healthy food, so how will you reach those in the area or those under the poverty line?
06:31 Okay, so the NNC in particular is a council.
06:38 We have three structures in the National Nutrition Council.
06:41 The first structure is what we call the governing board, and the governing board is composed
06:46 of 10 national government agencies, and the chair, which is the secretary of the Department
06:51 of Health.
06:52 So, and the vice chair are the secretary of the Department of Agriculture, as well as
06:59 the Department of Interior and Local Government.
07:02 And the rest are members like the Secretary of Dept. Ed., Secretary of the SWD, Secretary
07:08 of the DOLE, DOST, DTI, and then Department of Budget and Management, and we have the
07:16 other, the two or three private sector representatives.
07:23 So this means to say that the council meet regularly, and they usually pass resolutions
07:32 as per advice by the second structure, which is the executive arm, which is our agency,
07:39 the National Nutrition Council Secretariat.
07:41 So we do all the drafting of the proposed bills and the proposed resolutions, which
07:48 we think is necessary for the implementation with this, especially in this PIPA.
07:53 And the third structure of the NNC is the technical committee.
07:57 So these are composed of the technical people of the different departments that are under,
08:02 or that are, that comprise National Nutrition Council Governing Board.
08:07 And so this means to say that we meet regularly as the head of agency of the National Nutrition
08:12 Council Secretariat, which is the executive arm of the NNC Governing Board.
08:16 It is our mandate really to implement and to plan, in particular, to plan and then implement,
08:23 monitor, as well as evaluate all other programs of government that are geared towards eliminating
08:30 hunger and malnutrition, and especially food insecurity.
08:34 So this time, we want to be assured that this is a multi-sectoral approach led by government,
08:41 and the private sectors are there to be engaged, as well as other partners, like the Scaling
08:46 Up Nutrition Movement.
08:47 We have the, from the academe, the business sector, the Civil Society Alliance, as well
08:52 as the development partners, the UN networks.
08:54 So they are just here, and then NNC Secretariat will be convening them, calling them for a
09:01 meeting, and other instrumentals that we need, budget for this one and this one, and we help
09:07 each other complement our programs, just like we are doing right now with DOH NNC, and then
09:13 DSWD NNC, FNRI NNC, so all those things.
09:19 So ma'am, lastly, would you agree that poverty is the main reason for stunting among Filipino
09:23 children?
09:24 Actually, poverty is the core.
09:29 This is the core, the reason behind.
09:31 But as I've said, malnutrition is actually linked with various factors affecting malnutrition,
09:41 so one of which is, of course, the lack of food, so that is what we call food insecurity.
09:47 So why are the people not eating enough food, or not enough nutritious food?
09:53 They don't have access, because they cannot afford.
09:56 So with the high cost of food that we have, even vegetables, even fruits are high cost,
10:04 our prices for meat products, rich in proteins, are also increasing.
10:10 So those people who cannot afford, really, especially those below the poverty line, so
10:17 the problem, really, is poverty.
10:20 So poverty cuts across about everything.
10:24 For example, if one family has no basic, like the community that he lives in, they live
10:33 in, they don't have food, and then they don't have wash facilities, water and sanitation
10:42 and hygiene facilities, no toilet, no water system.
10:48 So also education forms part.
10:51 Because as a mother, as a young woman, when you start your own family, you should have
11:01 enough information and knowledge of what kind of food that you will be giving to your children,
11:07 especially young children.
11:08 And also as a pregnant woman, you should know what kind of food that you should be eating,
11:12 so that's part of education and knowledge.
11:15 And also on what you call the lack of food in the market, so that's what DEA is all about,
11:23 like food production for the Department of Agriculture.
11:26 So making sure that food is readily available, and that communities can access food that
11:32 are available.
11:33 And with DTI, price increases, you should be able to control or maybe regulate the too
11:45 much increase in basic food commodities.
11:48 And the Department of Education also, because as children grow older, they go to school,
11:55 in surveys, maraming sujata, talaga malnourished.
12:04 Because in the earlier years of their lives, talagang malnourished sila.
12:07 So they keep on growing, and then they tend to grow malnourished.
12:12 So when they reach full age, if nobody is taking care of their meals, luckily enough,
12:18 we in the Philippines, definitely taking care of their feeding program.
12:22 And so we take their children, DSM-D is taking care of the local government needs, taking
12:28 care of their mothers' children in the daycare centers also, not only in school.
12:33 In short, the MNC, we have a new program, actually we launched this, Tupok Kainan, supplementation
12:39 dietary supplementation program.
12:43 In March of 2021, this is at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw the need that
12:50 people should be given enough food because there was lockdown anywhere.
12:55 No groceries, no markets, no lockdown.
12:58 So the MNC actually developed a kind of methodology wherein this is the kind of program that we
13:08 need, like Tupok Kainan, this is directly observed supplementation for pregnant women.
13:14 And this is the reason why that even with the COVID-19 pandemic, there is not so much
13:19 increase in the number of stunted children because our LGUs were advised to our national
13:25 nutrition cluster, we actually passed two resolutions.
13:32 One is for having a family food pass per barangay to be distributed to the household, especially
13:38 with children under five years old and households with pregnant women.
13:45 So we wrote in the advisory that all local government units should prepare food packs
13:51 and integrate fresh fruits and vegetables as well as chicken and meat and then eggs
13:58 for protein and also milk for children.
14:02 So that's it.
14:04 And the Tupok Kainan has been going on and we have the good methodology and then our
14:12 target 3D are for nutritionally at least pregnant women, for these pregnant women to be well-nourished
14:18 so that when they give birth, their children will have normal weights.
14:25 Because if children have low birth weights at birth, then definitely they are the ones
14:33 who are vulnerable to be stunted and wasted.
14:36 So this is just the first 1000 days from the very first day of pregnancy up to two years
14:42 old of a child.
14:43 This is the focus of the NNC specifically providing dietary supplementation for pregnant
14:50 women and children under two years old.
14:52 Very well said, ma'am.
14:53 Like you said, health is a whole of nation.
14:57 It's everyone's concern and a nation approach to fight against malnutrition.
15:02 Thank you for your time.
15:03 National Nutrition Council Executive Director, Assistant Secretary Azucena Dayanghirang.
15:08 Marami salamat po.
15:10 Thank you very much.
15:11 Thank you, ma'am.
15:12 [End of Audio]
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