National Nutrition Council Dietary Supplementation Program dubbed as “Tutok Kainan” kicked off in the Province of Negros Occidental on 7 April 2021. The Province of Negros Occidental is the pilot province for the implementation of the program. It was chosen to be part of the program being a 1st priority Human Development and Poverty Reduction Cluster (HDPRC) area, Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition 2017-2022 priority area and in the top 30 provinces with highest adolescent birth rate.
The event highlights the distribution of Enhanced Nutri-bun to select nutritionally at-risk pregnant women. The program aims to serve as a platform for improving women’s nutrition through the provision of additional quality and nutritious food commodities to pregnant women in priority areas across the country.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Alexei Nograles, Chairperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger (IATF-ZH), NNC’s Executive Director, Dr. Azucena Dayanghirang represented by Deputy Executive Director, Atty. Faydah M. Dumarpa, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose V. Lacson, SAPRO Diona Molina of DAR, Provincial Nutrition Action Officer Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, and NNC RVI Nutrition Program Coordinator Reginaldo T. Guillen expressed their support and commitment for the program.
The program initially targets 34,000 nutritionally-at-risk pregnant women in 12 provinces covering 254 cities and municipalities. Beneficiaries will receive food commodities composed of enhanced Nutri-Bun, ready-to-eat lipid-based nutritional supplement, and hot meals for 3 months or 90 days.
By 2021, the program will expand its reach to stunted and wasted 6-23 months old children. Aside from these, Tutok Kainan participants will receive daily text messages called Nutri-text to inform them of the benefits of the program and remind them to avail of government services.
NNC, in collaboration with the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Zero Hunger, leads the implementation of Tutok Kainan under the National Dietary Supplementation Program of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022. A soft launch of the program was held on 23 November 2020.
