Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) Secretary Rex Gatchalian and Executive Director of the Second Congressional Committee on Education (EDCOM2) Karol Mark Yee explore ways to strengthen the ongoing government efforts to address malnutrition and stunting in the country during a meeting on Tuesday (May 14) at the DSWD Central Office in Quezon City.

Secretary Gatchalian mentioned the Philippine Multisectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) as one of the government efforts to address the two issues. The PMNP aims to reduce stunting in targeted localities by adopting a multi-sectoral nutrition approach to deliver a coordinated package of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive
interventions across various local government unit (LGU) platforms together with a harmonized social behavior change and communication strategy.

The DSWD chief also introduced the Food Stamp Program and the DSWD’s proposed amendment to the 4Ps Law, which includes providing incentives to pregnant and lactating women to encourage them to avail of health services and improve their health-seeking habits.

Also in the meeting were Philippine Institute of Development Studies (PIDS) President Dr. Aniceto Orbeta, Senior Research Fellow Dr. Valerie Gilbert Ulep and nutrition expert Dr. Maria Asuncion Silvestre. #