Republic of the Philippines
Department of Health
NATIONAL NUTRITION COUNCIL
INSPIRATIONAL MESSAGE1
AZUCENA M. DAYANGHIRANG, MD, MCH, CESO III
Assistant Secretary and Executive Director
National Nutrition Council
Courtesies…
To Honorable Cabinet Secretary Atty. Karlo Alexei Nograles, DOH-Region II Regional Director and Regional Nutrition Committee Chair Dr. Rio Magpantay, RNC Vice Chair Director Jonathan Paul Leusen and other members of the RNC, our resource speakers Ms. Luz Malillin, Atty. Racquel Reyes-Aglaua, and Professor Shelley Pascual; to all the distinguished guests and nutrition partners from the academe, business, civil society organizations, and the media groups. A pleasant morning to everyone. I would like to thank you all for sharing your precious time to grace us on this special day for nutrition at Cagayan Valley. I am extending my big congratulations to NNC Region 2, led by Nutrition Director Gisela Lonzaga, for putting together this orientation.
The Scaling Up Nutrition or SUN Movement was borne out of a recognition of the rising problem of undernutrition globally and the failure of the international system to deal with this problem effectively. The fragmented and dysfunctional actions among various stakeholders to address the issue is not making any difference. Thus, the birth of a global movement calls for unity among multiple stakeholders – the government, civil society organizations, academe, research, business sector, donor, development partners, and the United Nations – for a collective effort to fight malnutrition worldwide.
Even before COVID-19 pandemic, the world is already experiencing a more silent pandemic: malnutrition. But with the unprecedented global, social and economic crisis triggered by the COVID-19 pandemic, it is threatening to undo decades worth of hard work in addressing hunger and malnutrition.
Our current data revealed that nearly one in every three children under five years old is already stunted or too short for their age or bansot based on the results of the 2019 Expanded National Nutrition Survey conducted by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute. Contrary to common knowledge, stunting among children is not just being short, and neither is it an inherited trait from parents. Malnourished pregnant women are likely to give birth to a stunted child due to failure to meet the additional weight and nutritional requirements because of the demands of the growing fetus. Stunting compromises children’s physical and mental development, which, if not addressed by age two years, contributes to poor school performance, poor immunity, and poor work productivity, eventually affecting our human capital development. While this figure may sound intimidating, there is already a significant reduction noted compared to the survey results at the national level in 2015. We have been making progress. However, the progress has been too slow to achieve the nutrition targets that we have set. Now more than ever, the COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to reduced access to essential nutrition services and has disrupted the food systems, among others. The nutritional impacts of the COVID-19 crisis could have massive, long-term productivity consequences that could extend to future generations. Hence, immediate actions are needed to prevent this from happening.
The Scaling Up Nutrition Movement Strategy 3.0 was launched in 2021, which focuses on impact at the country level, and promotes country-ownership and leadership in addressing all forms of malnutrition through the implementation of nutrition-specific interventions to tackle its direct manifestations and nutrition-sensitive interventions to tackle the underlying causes of malnutrition focused on the first 1000 days or what we call the golden window of opportunity.
The appropriate mix of interventions cannot be done through the efforts and innovation of a single sector alone. It requires collective action and collaboration in creating and recreating ideas, seeking unity and totality of approach in addressing nutritional inadequacy rooted deeply in the persistent socio-economic issues of poverty and food insecurity.
Hence, there is an urgent need for greater involvement and participation of as many stakeholders as we can gather for a cumulative, resounding, and stimulating outcome. We must strategize for an aligned multisectoral and multifaceted approach in addressing the nutritional needs of the country. In this time where our progress is threatened, whatever gain we have, more than ever, we need to scale up our efforts and investments to protect the nutritionally-at-risk and vulnerable, especially the children and pregnant women. We need to adjust to the “new normal” and yet sustain and even scale up our efforts so that services continue to reach those at the grass root levels.
Thus, we need to join forces to protect the future generation. Our collective commitment and accountability to reduce malnutrition will make a difference. I look forward to the networks that will be established in Cagayan Valley to support the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) beyond 2022 and contribute to the achievement of our national and global commitments.
Again, Agyamanak kadakayo amin!
