In support to the national and regional launching conducted in 2017, Calapan City officially launched the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2017-2022 on 28 February 2018 at Divine Word College of Calapan (DWCC) Gymnasium, Calapan City Oriental Mindoro. Almost 300 participants attended the launching, which is composed of members of the 62 Barangay Nutrition Committees (BNCs) specifically the Barangay Chairpersons, Barangay Councilors on Health, Barangay Treasurers, Barangay Nutrition Scholars (BNSs), Barangay Health Workers (BHWs) and Day Care Workers (DCWs).
This PPAN launching of Calapan City aimed to: create awareness and update the nutrition stakeholders on the program component of the revised PPAN 2017-2022; strengthen coordination, monitoring, evaluation and arrangement of PPAN across different member agencies concerning nutrition program; increase efficiency and effectiveness in planning, implementation and over-all management of the nutrition specific and nutrition sensitive program from different stakeholders; secure pieces of legislative policy and budget support that will enable the LGU as well as partner agencies to implement the PPAN more effectively and efficiently.
Ms. Carina Z. Santiago, Officer-in-Charge of National Nutrition Council (NNC) MiMaRoPa, presented the updated PPAN 2017-2022 with focus on the nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive programs. Participants were educated of the different programs under the nutrition-specific programs (which directly addresses the immediate causes of malnutrition) such as Infant and Young Child Feeding Program (IYCF), Integrated Management of Acute Malnutrition (IMAM), National Dietary Supplementation Program, National Nutrition Promotion Program for Behavior Change, Micronutrient Supplementation (like Vitamin A, Iron – Folic Acid, Multiple Micronutrient Powder), Mandatory Food Fortification, Nutrition in Emergencies, and Overweight and Obesity Management and Prevention Program. On the other hand, nutrition-sensitive programs which addresses the underlying causes of malnutrition includes programs not directly addressing the nutritional status but can be tweaked to produce nutritional results. Example of a nutrition-sensitive program is the construction of farm-to-market roads wherein manpower will be obtained from families with undernourished children.
To further supplement the PPAN Launching, an exhibit of the eight nutrition-specific programs were also opened to the public, in which the ribbon-cutting was spearheaded by OIC Carina Z. Santiago together with City Councilor Rafael Panaligan, Dra. Mayette N. Bolor, Dr. Richen Merbert del Mundo and City Nutrition Action Officer (CNAO) Zipora O. Manes and the rest of City Health and Sanitation Department (CHSD) Staff.
Last May and November 2017, the NNC launched the PPAN 2017-2022 at the national and regional level, respectively. Local nutrition committees (LNCs) were urged to replicate the activity in their respective areas to gather invaluable commitment from the members of the LNCs, especially the local chief executives (LCEs). Calapan City, in response, jumpstarted and renewed their support to the nutrition programs in the city through continuously implementing effective and efficient programs addressing the existing and emerging nutritional problems especially among preschool children, pregnant and lactating women, and other vulnerable population.//jlbv
