QUEZON CITY -- President Ferdinand R. Marcos Jr. leads the launch of the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) at the Manila Hotel in the City of Manila on March 29, 2023.

The launch carries the theme, “Sa Healthy Pilipinas, Lahat Malakas! Converging Governance and Empowering Communities Against Maternal and Child Malnutrition.” It gathers different stakeholders and government officials to tackle key health issues, particularly discussions on maternal and child healthcare.

The PMNP is a four-year project spearheaded by the Government of the Philippines through its various government agencies such as the Department of Health (DOH), the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD), the Department of Agriculture (DA),  the National Nutrition Council (NNC) and the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (DOST-FNRI) geared towards adopting a bold and multisectoral approach to achieve nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions across various local government units (LGUs) in the country.

Among the goals of the said project is to achieve key impacts on the health and nutrition of every Filipino child, as well as to strengthen the LGUs’ capacities in terms of primary healthcare delivery of maternal and child health services.

Based on the recent Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS), there is a high incidence of stunting and malnutrition among Filipino children.

President Marcos noted this immediate concern about malnutrition which is linked to long-term adverse developmental impacts. This problem can affect people’s learning ability, academic performance, all the way to productivity, and employment opportunities

The Chief Executive, then, emphasizes the importance of capacitating and honing the people to become industrious, potent, and productive Filipinos.

“This is the reason why this Administration has put a high priority and considered it of strategic importance that lies in the areas of food security, health care, and education, amongst others,” the President said.

“Sometimes we do not think about it and therefore do not often realize it, but lodged at the very core of all this is the aspect of good nutrition for our people. On the one hand, we have acknowledged the harrowing state of affairs that hunger and food inadequacy continue to be of paramount national, and for that matter, international concerns,” the chief executive pointed out.

President Marcos who is also the Agriculture Secretary recognizes that malnutrition just like food security is a multifaceted problem that calls for a multi-sectoral community participatory approach to ensure that the programs will be felt up to the grass-roots level.

 “On the ground, this project will deliver services straight to our LGUs most in need of intervention, in the form of primary health [care] support and nutrition services, including Early Childhood Care and Development (ECCD) [services], not to mention access to clean water and sanitation, technical information, training and financing, amongst other facets,” President Marcos said.

Nutrition is considered one of the firm foundations and among the primary focus of the administration in order to achieve long-term socio-economic development to ensure food security and health for every Filipino. (KSAA – PIA CPSD)