Representatives of United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) held a meeting with NNC staff and Quezon Provincial Nutrition Action Office staff on January 30, 2017 to discuss possible partnership in the conduct of trainings on the management of severe acute malnutrition (SAM).  Ms. Maria Evelyn P. Carpio, Unicef Nutrition Specialist, was joined in the meeting by Mr. Alvin Manalansan, member of CMAM working group, Mr. Julius Parcarey, Focal Person for Nutrition in Quezon Province and NNC F1K Provincial Nutrition Coordinators, Ms. Jane Christine Guballa and Mr. Edzell Arcinue.

Ms. Carpio shared the intention of Unicef to assist in conducting trainings for the management of SAM cases in the target areas of Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD)/ First 1000 Days program or the F1K Program. However, she also presented that the province of Quezon may also want to be trained since the province has identified SAM cases in the different areas of the province. It was agreed that a Training of Trainers (ToT) will be conducted sometime in the second quarter of 2017 to create a pool of trainers in the province. Mr. Parcarey shared that the province can facilitate the roll-out of trainings in the province given that there are trainers to choose from. Unicef will provide technical assistance for the training. Once trained, Unicef will give commodities (e.g. RUTF) to the province to support management of SAM cases in the province.

Ms. Carpio also visited the municipalities of Sariaya and Candelaria to monitor the implementation of F1K Program in the areas and assess the nutrition interventions being done in these areas since Sariaya and Candelaria has the most number of severe malnutrition in the province.

According to Unicef, SAM is the most extreme and visible form of undernutrition. Children who suffer from SAM require urgent treatment to survive. These children have very low weights for their height and severe muscle wasting. It is also a major cause of death among children under 5 years of age.