19 January 2021, Cagayan de Oro City – A total of 93 nutrition focal persons from nine cities and 84 municipalities are set to participate in the Nutrition Service Continuity Online Survey spearheaded by the National Nutrition Council and UNICEF. A web application, Enketo and ONA, will be used to facilitate the survey which is expected to run from 4-15 January 2021.

The survey aims to understand the impact of COVID-19 pandemic on the provision and utilization of routine nutrition services through the health system. Survey indicators include: 1) capacities of Barangay Nutrition Scholars, 2) nutrition services offered before and during community quarantine, 3) nutrition services adaptation, 4) nutrition information, education, and communication, and 5) provision of food packs.

The National Nutrition Council X conducted an orientation for the region’s Nutrition Action Officers (NAOs), District/City Nutrition Program Coordinators (D/CNPCs) and nutrition office staff to level off understanding of the survey and to clarify its indicators. Target response rate for the survey is 90%, which means at least 84 of the Region 10 cities and municipalities should participate in the survey.

Each local government unit is expected to send only one response to the survey, which may be accomplished by the NAO, CNPC or nutrition office staff.

The threat of COVID-19 interrupting the delivery and provision of services to the target beneficiaries, particularly those covered under the period of the first 1000 days of life, prompted the survey.

As of this writing, 85 out of 93 NorMin LGUs (91%) have submitted their survey responses.

Immediate next step for the survey is the workshop on data processing involving NNC central and regional offices and UNICEF, scheduled on the fourth week of January. After the analysis of survey results, these will be disseminated to the LGUs for information and data utilization, as appropriate. (NO III Sheena Marie G. Talle)