Nutrition in Emergencies (NiE) is a collection of nutrition services provided as part of emergency preparedness, response, and recovery to prevent nutritional deterioration and death. These can include nutritional assessment; infant and young child feeding promotion, protection, and support; management of acute malnutrition, micronutrient supplementation, and other interventions which can be food or non-food-based interventions. NiE differs from nutrition emergencies since the latter refers to the conditions of malnutrition (such as wasting, micronutrient deficiencies, etc.) in emergency-affected populations. Nutrition emergencies can also occur when there is food insecurity, which increases the risk of malnutrition, illness, and death.
Nutrition in emergency is critical for mitigating the negative effects of a crisis, preventing death, and protecting people’s right to nutrition. When disaster strikes, population groups that are already malnourished prior to the emergency are more vulnerable to illness and death. The communities affected by the emergency are more likely to suffer from malnutrition due to a lack of or insufficient food and water, lack of access to health services, civil insecurity, poor sanitation, and insufficient public service delivery. It is also important because malnutrition is already a pre-existing problem in the Philippines, and thus can worsen when a crisis will strike.
Moreover, infants are among the vulnerable group during emergencies. Infants who are not breastfed are at a greater risk of experiencing diarrhea, acute respiratory tract infection, malnutrition, and even death. These are the reasons why the practice of exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of a baby’s life is very critical. Compared to formula milk, breastmilk is an ideal protective food that safeguards infants from infections that are common during emergencies. It also contains colostrum which is rich in antibodies and other beneficial components that protect infants against diseases and death, reduce dehydration, lessen the severity and duration of diarrhea, and prevent malnutrition. It is also a hygienic type of food with the right amount of energy, protein, fat, vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients that fit perfectly for infants that optimize the child’s physical and mental growth and development. Feeding infants with breastmilk substitutes such as milk formula can increase the risk of illness or even death because of possible contamination brought about by poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. Other problems that can arise in emergencies include acute malnutrition, chronic malnutrition, and micronutrient deficiencies in vitamin A, iron, and iodine.
The Philippines adopted the cluster approach to disaster and risk reduction management in accordance with the National Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council Circular No. 5, Series 2007 on the "Institutionalization of the Cluster Approach in the Philippine Disaster Management System, Designation of Cluster Leads and their Terms of Reference at the National, Regional, and Provincial Level." Essentially, the nutrition cluster facilitates strategic collaboration and emergency management comprehensiveness, as well as resource mobilization and integration of cross-cutting nutrition concerns with other clusters. From the several disasters that the country has gone through, nutrition response continues to evolve as an enhanced response strategy. Nutrition in emergencies is very important and therefore, we should continue to strengthen it through preparedness and active response. Be alert, be prepared!
- PNFP Rowence F. Zorilla, RND
References:
1. Nutrition in emergencies: the importance of exclusive breastfeeding
https://www.who.int/philippines/news/feature-stories/detail/nutrition-in-emergencies-the-importance-of-exclusive-breastfeeding#:~:text=Nutrition%20in%20emergencies%20(NiE)%20has,vulnerable%20to%20illness%20and%20death.
