Updated Nutrition Plan boosts government's hunger mitigation program
An important impact program in the updated Medium Term Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (MTPPAN) 2008-2010 is Promotion of Good Nutrition which is also a primary component of the government's Accelerated Hunger Mitigation Program (AHMP).
The AHMP is the banner priority program of the Arroyo administration to address hunger and alleviate poverty.
National Nutrition Council (NNC) Executive Director Asst. Sec. Bernardita Flores told the more than a thousand participants in the 19th Nutrition Congress here in Iloilo City, that they have updated the MTPPAN 2008-2010 to pave the way for better nutrition, reduced poverty and improved quality of life.
"If we want Filipinos to have better income, improved health status and improved school performance, we have to address nutritional problems first," Flores said.
That is why we labeled the updated MTPPAN 2008-2010 as urgent priority to address malnutrition with increasing importance and not just in the "business as usual" mode," Flores added.
Flores said the updated document is more responsive to recent socio-political and economic developments prevailing in the country affected by global trends.
She said the plan poses more challenges for the local government units to work hard and find creative approaches in implementing the MTPPAN.
The NNC chief said that problems of poverty and its consequences need complementation of efforts, wherein a community is not just a mere recipient or beneficiary but a partner.
Flores also commended the performance of the Barangay Nutrition Scholars, the local chief executives from the provincial down to the barangay levels for contributing to the NNC's efforts in bringing down Protein-energy malnutrition (PEM) among pre-schoolers and school age children.
The nutrition achievers were also cited for bringing down the incidence of Iodine Deficiency Disorders through follow-through of implementation of the ASIN Law, as efforts are still targeted to reduce the prevalence of vitamin A deficiency.
Meanwhile, Flores drove home a point in her talk by saying that under nutrition is not simply a function of food security and health services or environmental quality, but also of caring practices.
"We should be keen on caring practices that enable the poor and those households lacking in resources to have children who are undernourished. These are the caring practices that some have referred to as tiyaga sa pag-aalaga," Flores said. (PIA 6/ESS)