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Hypertension Awareness Month was among the health advocacies promoted nationwide in the month of May by the Department of Health. The agency reminds the general public on the importance of regular blood pressure monitoring given the fact that it now affects the younger population. Hypertension can be hereditary but there are also modifiable risk factors that are lifestyle-related. The public is advised to avoid smoking, have low salt, and low cholesterol diet, maintain ideal body weight, and have adequate exercise. What is hypertension? Hypertension is a lifestyle disease wherein the blood moves at a higher pressure compared to normal. It is also called “silent killer” as individuals may not be able to know they have elevated blood pressure unless they are checked by health professionals. Several factors including unhealthy diet, obesity, smoking, lack of exercise, and other existing condition may cause an individual to suffer from hypertension. If hypertension is left uncontrolled, it may lead to several diseases such as heart failure wherein the heart is enlarged and fails to supply blood to the body and stroke wherein elevated blood pressure causes the blood vessels in the brain to clog.
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Five hundred fifty-one children, 6-59 months old, pregnant, and lactating, from the 23 barangays in the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon received freshly produced soya milk beginning 23 April 2020. This was Prieto Diaz’s action in the midst of possible food insecurity brought about by enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). Distribution of this nutritious, high protein milk provided the much-needed protein and other nutrients to children and mothers of Prieto Diaz.
More often than not, children are among the vulnerable sector least considered in both normal and emergency times. Likewise, nutrition has taken a backseat in governance and emergency responses, more so if leaders are confused or ignore laws particularly the EO 51 or Milk Code. EO 51 prohibits the donation of formula milk even during emergency times. In just the early period of implementation of ECQ, complaints of not receiving food packs started to arise, more from needy families with younger children. Many attempted but were stopped, though there were still few who were able to distribute formula milk. Such issue if taken placidly, could result to more malnourished children, particularly among the younger ones.
Read more: Prieto Diaz, Sorsogon, embraces EO 51, gives away fresh Soya milk
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Tabaco City. Bicol Region has been on enhanced community quarantine since March 15 and has affected a lot of Bicolanos. The primary concern during this pandemic is the health of every individual which is now being addressed by respective provincial governments as well as other LGUs in the region. For an instance, the provincial government of Albay initiated the inclusion of vegetables in the distribution of relief food packs. They purchased raw vegetables such as squash, camote, ampalaya, and winged beans from local farmers in the province and distributed these to different LGUs, which in turn, reached the more needy families. The provincial government also delivered food packs and hygiene kits to Albayanos stranded in Del Gallego, Camarines Sur during the first week of the ECQ. Rapu rapu and Jovellar also included fish among food distributed to their constituents. LGUs in Sorsogon included vegetable seeds and tinapa (lawlaw) in their relief packs. In Casiguran, the LGU did not include canned goods in the relief pack, rather, they provided seafoods and bread every day to the community. In Gubat, rice and dried fish were sold at much lower prices. Two LGUs in Camarines Sur also have distributed RUTF to identified SAM patients good for two weeks supply. Calabanga, in addition to vegetables and other commodities, also distributed rice-sesame mongo blend to all 6-12 months old children in the municipality. In Masbate City, malnourished children continued to have medical check-up and supplemental feeding program. However, instead of children being gathered for the program, the food is being given straight to their homes.
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Tabaco City. With the Enhanced Community Quarantine in effect since March 16, many daily wage earners have experienced many difficulties in meeting their daily food needs due to low or no daily income earned. With low income, there is a big possibility for the members of the family to reduce food intake, resulting to limited nutrients which greatly affect the health of everyone especially those who are most vulnerable – children, pregnant and lactating women, senior citizens and differently-abled group. Children must have enough nutrients in their body for proper growth and development. Pregnant and lactating women should be healthy for their infants to be healthy. Senior citizens have weak immune systems and are vulnerable to diseases. While Provincial and Local Government Units and National Government Agencies continue to help those in need, various Non-Government Organizations also decided to lend a helping hand.
Two NGOs in Bicol Region extend their help to the undernourished children as well as the pregnant and lactating mothers. One of these is the Destiny Church Bicol which initiated Project “Istorya Ko, Tabang Ko”. The education of the children was compromised during this crisis, so they started an online story-reading challenge to help children learn. Various individuals uploaded videos of them reading children's stories which can be accessible on their Facebook Page and YouTube Channel. Moreover, Destiny Church Bicol also donated food packs to undernourished children in 4 barangays in Tabaco City with the help of Tabaco City Nutrition Committee. 138 undernourished children benefited from the food packs given that included fruits, eggs, chicken, macaroni pasta, mongo, cereal drink, bread, and biscuits. With this project, they help educate children at home and provide nutritious food too.
Read more: NGOs in Bicol lend a helping hand to fight malnutrition and promote breastfeeding
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By this time, relief food packs already reached your pantry areas. In times like this, we can only settle for what are locally available while our front liners are busy managing the sick while government leaders are deciding more serious matters. Not what food or dish to cook for the family. We know these food packs are not enough. That is why we are encouraging the people to take the challenge of creating a kitchen garden right at their doorstep by planting vegetables that are easy to grow and will produce greens in a short time. The other challenge is how to make the most of the contents of the food packs. The following are simple tips and suggestions to make more “masustansya” your usual relief food packs.
Sardinas ba kamo?
- Gisahin with the usual sibuyas and bawang. Lagyan mo na rin ng kamatis para may lycopene na good for the heart.
- Para maging mas makulay, you can put malunggay, or talbos ng kamote on the side. Mayaman yan sa iron at B vitamins for a healthy blood Puwede ding alugbati dyan sa tabi o kaya naman kangkong na madahon, to add more variety.
- Ginisang sardinas with sayote or green papaya , upo o patola, depende sa available na gulay sa likod bahay.
- Sabawan para mas marami, good for the whole family.
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Across the country, local governments are at the forefront to cope with the blows this pandemic has brought to health and nutrition well-being of the population. All have initiated distributing food commodities (either ready to cook or fresh vegetables), vitamins, hygiene kits, among others to the general public and the more vulnerable groups of children, pregnant and lactating mothers, senior citizens and persons with disability.
In Bicol, the local government of the Municipality of Guinobatan, Albay, through the Rural Health Unit (RHU) and Nutrition Office did not cease to deliver services to children, pregnant and elderly, cognizant of the dire need of the groups, in this time of emergencies. The office mobilized and dispatched health and nutrition teams to bring essential services to all of the barangay health centers, supervised by the Rural Health Midwives together with the nurses and midwives under the HRH NDP and RHMPP program of Department of Health. They are all guided by an Office Memo dated March 24, 2020 from the Municipal Health Officer on the mobilization and utilization of micronutrient supplements from DOH.
