Tambuling Batangas Publication January 16-22, 2019 issue | Page 5

OPINYON
January 9-15, 2019
Gun Ban, checkpoint, hudyat ng pagsisimula
sa checkpoint sina Oriental lugar at maging sa loob ng
ng halalan
Mindoro Police Provincial Office pribadong sasakyan maliban
LUNGSOD NG QUEZON -- Ang
pagkakatatag ng mga Comelec
checkpoint sa mga kalsada ang
katunayang umarangkada na ang
election period sa buong bansa.
Sa Oriental Mindoro, mismong
si Police Regional Office–
Mimaropa Director Tomas Colet
Apolinario Jr. nangasiwa at nag-
inspeksyon sa check operations
noong hatinggabi ng Enero 13.
Kasama ni Director Apolinario
Director Thomas Rojo Frias Jr.,
203rd Army Brigade Deputy
Commander Antonio Lastimado
at mga opisyal ng Comelec.

Bawat
bayan
ay
kinakailangang may isa man
lang Comelec Checkpoint na
naglalayong
ipatupad
ang
firearms ban.

Sa ilalim ng firearms
o gun ban, bawal magdala ng
baril sa mga pampublikong
kung ang nagdadala ay may
dokumentadong
awtorisasyon
mula sa Comelec

Bukod sa baril at iba
pang uri ng armas, ipinagbabawal
din ang pagdadala ng mga
pampasabog o explosives at ang
mga spare part nito.

Tanging mga regular na
miyembro ng PNP, Sandatahang
Lakas at iba pang law-
enforcement agency na deputized
Law on ‘first 1000 days of life’ to boost
with assessment of breastfeeding
country’s health status
practice, growth monitoring
By Lucia F. Broño
MALNUTRITION is a perennial
problem of the country. It is true
that prevalence of under nutrition
has diminished over the years but
the problem still persists.

Health and nutrition
workers, despite the meager
salary, have been working hard to
implement the programs set by the
local government units (LGUs)
to uplift the health and nutrition
condition of people in their
respective areas of assignment.

Thus, when President
Rodrigo Duterte signed Republic
Act 11148 or the “Kalusugan at
Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act”,
the health sector rejoiced saying
that the law will complement the
much-awaited Universal Health
Care Law and will further boost
the country’s health status.

RA 11148 involves the
scaling up the National and Local
Health and Nutrition Programs
through a Strengthened Integrated
Strategy for Maternal, Neonatal,
Child Health and Nutrition in the
First One Thousand (1,000) Days
of Life” or otherwise known as
the “Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng
Mag-Nanay Act),” the national
and local health programs for
pregnant and lactating women,
adolescent girls, infants and
young children.

Assistant Secretary of
Health and Executive Director
IV Maria-Bernardita T. Flores,
CESO II said that the First 1000
Days Act is an integration of
all existing services of health,
nutrition, social welfare, and
education that aims to provide
the basic holistic needs of young
children.

The law seeks to refocus
interventions for addressing
malnutrition among the most
nutritionally at risk, prioritizing
women of reproductive age,
especially
adolescent
girls,
teen-age mothers, pregnant and
lactating women and children
from birth up to 24 months, to
address the health and nutrition
problems of these vulnerable
groups.

The law tasked the
Department of Health, the
National
Nutrition
Council
(NNC) and its Governing Board
members to formulate a strategy
that is comprehensive and
sustainable.

The law provides for
the delivery of the following
nutrition and health services and
interventions:
First 270 days of conception
and
pregnancy:
prenatal
services at the rural health units
and barangay health stations,
identification and management
of nutritionally-at-risk pregnant
women and pregnant adolescents
and provision of ready-to-use
supplementary food in addition
to
dietary
supplementation,
provision of anthelminthic drugs
deworming and assessment of risk
for parasites; for pregnant women
and immediate postpartum period,
care at the time of admission at
the facility, and monitoring of
progress of labor and conditions
of both the mother and the fetus,
among others; and for postpartum
and lactating women, the services
include follow-up preventive
care visits to health facilities
where they gave birth, and home
visits for women in difficult to
reach communities particularly
geographically isolated and
disadvantaged areas (GIDA).

For the next 180 days (0-6
months of the child): provision of
continuous support for mother
and infants to initiate and
complete exclusive breastfeeding
for the first 6 months, including
referral to trained health workers
on lactation management and
treatment of breast conditions;
counselling
household
members
on
handwashing,
environmental sanitation and
hygiene; appropriate and timely
immunization services integrated
promotion; infant and young
child feeding (IYCF) counselling;
and provision of routine newborn
care services such as eye
prophylaxis and vitamin K, birth
doses of Hepatitis B and BCG
vaccines after completion of the
first breastfeeding.

For the last 550 days
(6 months up to 2 years of the
child): health and nutrition
services at the community
level shall be provided, such
as integrated management of
childhood illnesses, including
the management of moderate
and severe acute malnutrition;
deworming for children one
to two years old; oral health
services, including application of
fluoride varnish to prevent dental
carries; and livelihood assistance
for parents of families belonging
to the poorest of the poor.

Under the law, the DOH,
the National Nutrition Council
(NNC), in coordination with other
national government agencies,
local government units (LGUs),
civil society organizations and
other stakeholders, will develop
a comprehensive and sustainable
strategy for the first 1,000 days
of life to address the health,
nutrition, and developmental
problems affecting infants, young
children, pregnant and lactating
women, and adolescent girls.

It also mandated LGUs
to institutionalize the maternal,
neonatal, child health and
nutrition program and integrate it
in the local nutrition action plans
and investment plans for health.
Implementation will be at the
barangay level through the rural
health units and barangay health
centers.

Health and nutrition
services and interventions will
be provided at the different life
stages--prenatal period, women
about to give birth and immediate
postpartum period, postpartum
and lactating women, birth and
newborn period, first six months
o hinirang ng Comelec para
pagserbisyo sa buong election
period at sa mismong araw ng
halalan ang papayagan magdala
ng armas.

Mayroon silang hawak
na dokumentadong awtorisasyon
mula sa komisyon.

Bukod
dito,
ang
deputized law enforcer na
pinayagang magdala ng armas
ay kinakailangan naka-uniporme
kung saan mababasa ang kanyang
pangalan, rango at serial number.
Hindi pinapayagan ng Comelec
ang mga kandidato, nakaposisyon
man o hindi, na humirang ng
security forces.

Ano
naman
ang
maasahan sa isang Comelec
Checkpoint?

Ayon kay James Jimenez
ng Comelec, sisilipin lang ng
unipormadong pulis o sundalo
ang lahat ng daraan sa Comelec Checkpoint na nakaposisyon sa
mga istratehikong lokasyon.

Ang mga motorista
naman ay hindi kailangang
magbukas ng pinto o compartment
o kaya ay bumaba habang sinisilip
ng mga awtoridad ang looban ng
saksakyan.

Hindi kakapkapan ang
mga taong daraan sa check point.

Sinabi
ni
Jimenez
na madaling makilala ang
lehitimong Comelec Checkpoint:
nakaposisyon sa maliwanag
na lugar, binabantayan ng mga
unipormadong pulis o sundalo
na mayroon name plate ID at iba
pang pagkakakilanlan.

Mayroon karatula ang
isang Comelec Checkpoint kung
saan mababasa ang pangalan
at numeero ng mga telepono o
cellphone ng Comelec official,
opisyal na pulis o sundalong
nakakasakop sa lugar. (LP)
of infancy, and infants six months
up to two years of age.

The First 1000 Days
strategy will prioritize urban and
rural populations who reside in
disaster-prone,
geographically
isolated and disadvantaged areas,
areas with high prevalence of
undernutrition, hazard/conflict-
prone areas, and with poor
families identified by the National
Household Targeting System.

Senator Loren Legarda,
co-author of the Senate Bill No.
1537, also known as “The Healthy
Nanay and Bulilit Act”, said “the
first 1,000 days of a baby’s life,
which covers the nine months
of a mother’s pregnancy until a
child’s second birthday, is the
foundation of a person’s future
health, intellectual development,
and motor and social skills.
Good nutrition for mothers and
babies at pregnancy and infancy
stage is crucial to sustain a sturdy
foundation for a child’s well-
being.”

Senator Grace Poe, co-
author and co-sponsor of the
measure in the Senate, called on
her colleagues to support moves
to increase the budget of the First
1,000 Days Law in its maiden
year of implementation next year.
“Just like an infant, the future of
this new law, whether or not it
fulfills its mandate, lies in the first
1,000 days of its implementation.
Without sufficient funding, the
law cannot fulfill the program’s
objectives of scaling down
undernutrition and improving the
health of mothers and infants,”
said Poe.

She added that some
P6 billion is needed to fulfill the
mandates of the program.

UNICEF
Philippine
Deputy Representative Rees
congratulated the Philippine
government for making the great
step of prioritizing interventions
and investments for children and
their mothers during their first
1000 days through the passage of
the bill”. She added that UNICEF
is committed to continue
supporting the Government
as it defines the package of
interventions and accountabilities
of all Government Agencies
to operationalize and scale up
effective nutrition services in the
country.

“With this law, we hope
that the much-needed investments
for evidence-based interventions can finally move the needle
towards taller, brighter, and
healthier and more productive
Filipino Children,” Rees said.

“Everyone should work
together to achieve good nutrition
because it is the foundation of
a child’s survival, health and
development,” Rees added.

Based on the latest
National Nutrition Survey or
the 8th NNS conducted by the
Food and Nutrition Research
Institute (FNRI) in 2013 bared
the following condition of
malnutrition among Filipino
children 0-5 years old: 2 out of
10 or 19.9% children among
0-5 years old were underweight;
3 out of 10 or 30.3% children
were stunted; 1 out of 10 or 7.9%
children were wasted; 5 out of
100 or 5.0% children among 0-5
years old were overweight.

The survey also revealed
that one in four pregnant women
in the country were recorded as
“nutritionally at risk”.

A study undertaken by
the United Nations International
Children’s Emergency Fund
(UNICEF) disclosed
that
children who are stunted have
life-long damaging consequences
on their cognitive and intellectual
capacities while children who
have severe wasting—also known
as severe acute malnutrition—
have at least nine to 12 times
increased risk of death.

Malnutrition also affects
the nation’s economy as proven
by two studies conducted in
January 2018 by UNICEF, in
partnership with the DOH and
NNC.

The first study, “The
Economic Consequences of
Undernutrition in the Philippines:
A Damage Assessment Report
(DAR),”
shows
that
the
Philippines is losing and will
continue to lose around $4.5
billion per year if current rates of
undernutrition are not addressed.

The
second
study,
“Business Case for Nutrition
Investment in the Philippines,”
shows
how
effective
implementation of affordable
and equity-focused nutrition
interventions can significantly
decrease the annual economic
burden of undernutrition. It also
presents that for every $1 invested
to address undernutrition, there
will be a $12 return to the overall
economy. (PIA-NCR)