CAR

Details: Category: Region CAR; Published: 25 January 2017

BANGUED, Abra, Jan. 23 (PIA) --Intensified information campaign, supplemental feeding and probe on behavioural aspect of the community are among the measures to be undertaken by government agencies to address the perennial malnutrition problem in the province.

This was agreed during the joint meeting of the Abra Provincial Nutrition Council, the National Nutrition Council and Department of Health –Cordillera last January 19 at the Abra Provincial Health Office.

With the town of Tineg still the top rank in malnutrition in CAR, the DOH’s supplemental feeding program will be pursued. It shall be complemented by intensified information drive.

OIC Provincial Health Officer under APHO- Technical Division Dr. Antonio Valera suggested a probe on behavioural aspect of the community in Tineg in order to identify the root of the problem. It is rather futile implementing the same strategy (feeding program) over and over again as there are still malnourished children, but to no avail, he said.

Valera stressed the important roles of community leaders like barangay officials and teachers whom people respect and follow to guide them. He proposed that barangay officials enforce good eating habits of every household. Department of Education, on the other, plays vital role in nutrition advocacy by teaching pupils and parents backyard gardening.

“This is a good strategy since children bring their ‘baon’ to school due to long distance from home. They can cook what’s in the school backyard. At para maturuan din ang parents na magtanim sa bakuran dahil napakalawak ng lupain sa Tineg,” he said.

Each member agency particularly the Department of Social Welfare and Development, DepEd, Dept. of Interior and Local Government and Philippine Information Agency assured to exhaust all necessary measures and support in the roll out of this advocacy.

Meanwhile, Bella Basalong of NNC-CAR informed that the Regional Nutrition Evaluation Team will visit Abra this June to assess the status of the top ten malnourished towns and assess PNC’s picks for the Green Banner Award and Barangay Nutrition Scholars best performer award. (JDP/GBB- PIA CAR, Abra)

Details: Category: Region CAR; Published: 20 January 2017

Ant Rose With teary eyes, I begin to type in my laptop and try to organize my thoughts on how to come up with a hearty article for a dear woman as I pray that I will never experience such kind of sacrifices in my work in the coming days.

For 25 long years, superiors came and left, job order staff came and left too as they found more stable jobs and this woman was always left behind. She entered the National Nutrition Council in 1991 when NNC-CAR just started.

She said that function involving voluminous multi-tasks including doing tasks not of her craft but at the end of the day, she can always say, “Thanks God, I was able to make it right, is very challenging and this motivated her to stay at NNC for many years. “Ayokong masira ang boss ko at ang aking office dahil sa hindi ko nagawa ang aking trabaho kaya hindi ako nagbibilang ng oras, ang importante matapos ang aking dapat tapusin at mahihigitan ko pa ang expectations nila sa akin” she said as I noted her many hours of overtime work.

I asked what sacrifices she had to do and her answer broke my heart. “When my husband died and I went on leave for only a week and have to report for work immediately because no one will man the office, the OIC and driver are busy with MELLPI. Working with a bleeding heart is not that easy.”, she said. She also added, “There were times I failed to attend school activities and graduations of my children. There were also times when I was not able to accompany my children when they got sick, instead endorse them to a neighbor. All of these are due to call of duty.” She also said that many time she did not attend family reunions because of her work.

The story of her sacrifices hit me but suddenly, I felt so lucky for in my school days when I got sick, I was never endorsed by our mother to a neighbor but her tender care always makes me well. In my stand as a staff who is just a three years old in the agency, I thought that I have sacrificed a lot, I complain, I compare, I demand. But who am I to feel this way if I am to compare these little things to the sacrifices of this womanThe woman I am referring to is no other than Ms. Rosalia Federico Pablo, the Administrative Aide VI of NNC-CAR . She was given a service award for 25 years of continuous and dedicated service by the National Nutrition Council during the NNC’s 2016 Year-end General Assembly last December 20 at the NNC Lobby, Taguig City. We fondly call her auntie in the office for we all consider her as our second mother for she always displays warm friendship and caring ways to all.

She said that she has no regrets and does harbor any bad feelings about the sacrifices she had to do because she feels that God has been so kind to her and her family with good health and many blessings. She is also thankful for being part of NNC saying that NNC takes care of its people. She said NNC provided her training for her professional growth and made her capable and confident in all aspects of her work

Her message for all NNC staff is for us to be patient, to love our work, to love our office, to love our superior and co-workers because they are our second family. The spirit of love suddenly then put my broken heart into whole again as I realized that Panagbenga month is fast approaching, the season for the flowers to bloom, the month of hearts. Therefore, let us then spread love for it is the real essence of the coming valentines. NEP/RDP

Details: Category: Region CAR; Published: 15 December 2016

Baguio City - Members of the Regional Technical Assistants on Nutrition (RTAN), the technical arm of the Regional Nutrition Committee in CAR agreed during their 4^th quarter meeting on December 7, 2016 at the Regional Training Center of DOH-CAR to expand the conduct of pabasa sa nutrisyon among pantawid families based on the positive feedback in the pilot municipalities of Lacub, Malibcong and Tineg in Abra.

One major agenda of the RTAN cum RBATF 4^th quarter meeting was assessment of the implementation of the pabasa sa nutrisyon for pantawid families through the feedback and sharing of experiences of the Municipal Links of the pilot municipalities who supervised the conduct of the modular sessions on nutrition together with the Nurse Deployment Program nurses of DOH covering the area during the family development sessions from September to November 2016. These pabasa sa nutrisyon among pantawid families is a project of the Regional Nutrition Committee which was launched last August 10, 2016 with the aim to increase awareness especially among poor families on good nutrition. During the 2016 first quarter meeting, the RNC members highlighted the lack of knowledge on nutrition especially among poor families as one of the identified cause of high malnutrition. They then passed a resolution during the 2^nd quarter meeting, for the conduct of the pabasa sa nutrisyon for pantawid families in the three upland municipalities of Lacub, Malibcong and Tineg, three of the municipalities with very high undernutrition .

Details: Category: Region CAR; Published: 13 January 2017

Ate Bel BANGUED, Abra- This capital town initiated the therapeutic feeding of severely acute malnourished children under a new program on nutrition that would soon be replicated regionwide.

Bella Basalong, Nutrition Officer III of NNC-CAR undergoing a masteral degree course with the Development Academy of the Philippines (DAP), initiated the establishment of the community based management of severe acute malnutrition guided by the DOH Administrative Order N0 2015-055: National Guidelines on the Management of Acute Malnutrition for children under five years as her course re-entry project.

Basalong assisted by the DOH regional office started the project with an orientation and training of key LGU stakeholders and health center staff. Trained Barangay Nutrition Scholars started validating list of children through the conduct of weight and height taking and measurements of the mid upper arm circumference since mid- November 2016 and currently identified four severely malnourished children and enrolled them in the program as of January 10, 2017. Basalong said that additional children will be enrolled as they are identified. The full validation of children in all the barangays of this town is expected to be completed this January.

Children enrolled in the program will undergo therapeutic feeding, other medical interventions and weekly monitoring managed by the health center for four months. DOH provided ready to eat therapeutic food (RUTF), the product approved by the DOH for this program.

Basalong, who spent most of her days in this town for the last two months assisting the health center on the project will hand over the full management of the project through a turn over program on January 19. Representatives of the DOH regional office are expected to attend the ceremony.

The management of acute malnutrition will be one of the major programs for nutrition to be implemented by the DOH in collaboration with the LGUs in the next five years under the new Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition, 2017-2022.

Rita Papey, Nutrition Program Coordinator of NNC-CAR said that the experience from this project in Abra will help the NNC-CAR as it prepares for wider implementation of the new nutrition program addressing acute malnutrition. NEP

Details: Category: Region CAR; Published: 23 November 2016

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. reorganized the Provincial Nutrition Council (PNC) and designated the same as the Nutrition Cluster for Disasters and Emergencies.

The PNC is chaired by the governor with Provincial Health Officer Penelope Domogo as vice chair.

The PNC will formulate, implement, and monitor the provincial nutrition action program; generate and mobilize resources; integrate existing nutrition-related projects and activities; revitalize the municipal nutrition committees; and coordinate and release funds for nutrition purposes in accordance with the approved projects and programs, among other tasks.

As the Local Nutrition Cluster for Disasters and Emergencies, the PNC is tasked to plan, coordinate, and conduct aggressive and sustained campaigns to promote proper nutrition and consumption of locally available products; conduct rapid assessment of the disaster or calamity-affected area; and ensure timely and appropriate delivery of quality package of nutrition interventions to the affected population particularly on the promotion and interventions to the affected population and protection of infant and child funding practices and micronutrient supplementation.

The PNC shall also ensure that food provided and distributed are nutritionally adequate especially for the vulnerable groups; conduct trainings and other various capacity building activities related to nutrition; promote nutrition counseling to affected population; promote the consumption of natural food available in the locality; and establish and promote coordination, networking, planning, social mobilization, advocacy, surveillance, monitoring, evaluation, and good reporting mechanisms within the nutrition cluster. Juliet B. Saley / PIA

Details: Category: Region CAR; Published: 19 December 2016

car nnac December 13, 2016 - The municipality of Alfonso Lista, Ifugao received their 1^st Year CROWN Maintenance award together with Baguio City and the province of Benguet as Consistent Regional Outstanding Winners on Nutrition (CROWN) during the National Nutrition Awarding Ceremony at the Philippine International Convention Center, Manila on December 13, 2016.

Mayor Glenn Prudenciano, Chair of the Municipal Nutrition Committee of Alfonso Lista, Ifugao together with other members of the Municipal Nutrition Committee received their Certificate of Recognition and cash award of P100,000.00. Two members of the Provincial Nutrition Committee of Ifugao including Dr. Gloria Evangelio and DNPC Corazon Dawong also attended the ceremony.

For the province of Benguet, Governor Crescencio Pacalso, Chair of the Provincial Nutrition Committee received the award together with Dr. Nora Ruiz, Provincial Health Officer and PNC member and PNAO Amelia Cayap. Mr. Ryan Dale Mangusan, Executive Assistant of City Mayor’s Office and Dr. Rowena Galpo, City Health Officer and CNAO led the twenty members of the City Nutrition Committee and staff of the City Nutrition Office in receiving their award in behalf of Hon. Mauricio Domogan, City Mayor and CNC Chair of Baguio City who was not able to attend the awarding ceremony. Benguet and Baguio both received plaque of appreciation and cash award of P500,000.00.

The whole Cordillera Administrative Region is looking forward that with the continues support of all nutrition stakeholders, both Baguio and Benguet and so with Alfonso Lista, Ifugao will bring home the National Honor Award, the highest award given by NNC after three years for Baguio and Benguet and two years respectively for Alfonso Lista.

Ms. Candice Willy, Nutritionist-Dietitian IV of DOH-CAR and Chair of the 2015 Regional Evaluation Team also attended the event together with Regional Nutrition Program Coordinator Rita Papey and Nutrition Officer III Nancy Paclos. The awarding ceremony was graced by Cabinet Secretary Leoncio Evasco, Jr., representative of Mayor Rodrigo Roa Duterte as the keynote speaker.