NATIONAL government agencies (NGAs), local government units (LGUs), and other groups pledged a total of P592 billion for the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) 2023-2028 on Wednesday morning, September 13, 2023, at SMX Convention Center.
Azucena M. Dayanghirang, Assistant Secretary and Executive Director of National Nutrition Council (NNC), underscored the importance of implementing the PPAN since the rate of stunting and malnutrition in the country is alarming.
“This is the reason why we are here right now and we have launched the new PPAN because we cannot just wait for our children to go on being malnourished,” Dayanghirang said.
Dayanghirang mentioned how the budget is not enough and that the agency has made an appeal to the Committee on Appropriations in Congress to augment the budget for the PPAN. The NNC has an additional P500 million budget but based on the investment workshops, last August 2022, all the 60 NGAs committed for six years a total of P592 billion.
The 2022 Operation Timbang Plus shows the nutritional status of children where the NNC identified and located the malnourished children. The agency weighed and assessed 79,995 children ages zero to 59 months old.
Based on the consolidated results of NNC, the province of Davao Occidental ranked highest in the rate of children stunted or severely stunted with 14.4 percent. It is followed by Davao Oriental with 8.9 percent, Davao de Oro with 6.5 percent, Davao del Sur with 4.8 percent, and Davao del Norte with 3.9 percent.
Further, in terms of children who are underweight and severely underweight, Davao Occidental still ranked first with 7.6 percent, followed by Davao Oriental with 4.1 percent, Davao de Oro with 2.7 percent, Davao del Sur with 2.5 percent, and Davao del Norte with 2.4 percent.
In terms of wasting, Davao Occidental remains to have the highest rate at 5.3 percent, followed by Davao Oriental at 2.3 percent, then Davao de Oro at 0.8 percent, and Davao del Norte and Davao del Sur at 0.7 percent.
In line with the alarming rate of stunting, wasting, and underweight, the NNC launched the PPAN to improve the nutrition outcomes of children nationwide. The PPAN is a six-year rolling plan of the NNC that supports the eight-point Socioeconomic Agenda of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. which embraces the Universal Health Care and the Philippine Development Plan 2023-2028 that is aligned with the Ambisyon Natin 2040.
To combat the high rate of malnutrition, the PPAN established the four desired outcomes as an intervention and this included: food and diet, practices and behavior, multisectoral nutrition service, and an enabling environment.
At a regional level, the Regional Nutrition Committee (RNC) will be the hand of the national nutrition body, indicating that the multi-sectoral, entire government and entire society strategy is also reproduced at this level.
Also, the PPAN has identified 34 priority provinces based on the magnitude of malnutrition and stunting in children. These 34 provinces are categorized based on their priority needs so that stakeholders will have a guide in assisting them.
The 34 priority provinces of PPAN are Leyte, Sulu, Negros Occidental, Negros Oriental, Samar, Lanao del Norte, Masbate, Palawan, Basilan, Cebu, Camarines Sur, Quezon, Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Maguindanao, Bukidnon, Iloilo, Cavite, Bulacan, Cotabato, Oriental Mindoro, Pangasinan, Rizal, Davao del Sur, Nueva Ecija, Isabela, Pampanga, Sorsogon, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Surigao del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Antique, and Tawi-tawi.
The PPAP 2023-2028 launch had 300 guests in attendance. RGP
