Program seen to reduce deaths among children

CEBU - The Department of Health will hold the “Garantisadong Pambata” program intended for kids five years old and below this October being Children’s Month.

The program will be like a preschoolers’ week, DOH regional nutritionist Juliet Tutor said.

Various services will be offered to children five years and below such as immunization, Vitamin A supplementation, dental check, deworming, and many others.

Tutor said DOH will be prioritizing children who are “undernourished like those who have not undertaken complete vaccinations or those who are not taking complete nutrients a child needs.”

The highlight of the program is the Vitamin A supplementation wherein DOH will be attending to 95 percent of the children in the five-years-old-and-below population in Cebu.

Tutor said that vitamin A is one of the essential vitamins a child needs to survive. She said it could boost the child’s immune system because it goes to the surface cells of the body so bacteria could not infiltrate.

DOH reports show that 82,000 Filipino children die before their fifth birthday. The Garantisadong Pambata program seeks to promote the eight essential child survival packages which include skilled attendance during pregnancy, delivery and immediate postpartum, care of the newborn and breastfeeding and complementary feeding.

Micronutrient supplementation and deworming, immunization of children and mothers and integrated management of sick children should follow.

Parents should also practice child injury prevention and control and birth spacing.

In connection with the milk scam that scares consumers today, DOH is strongly promoting breastfeeding among lactating mothers.

DOH also announced about the New Born Screening Act promulgating a comprehensive policy and system for ensuring newborn screening.

The objectives are to ensure that every newborn has access to newborn screening for certain hereditary conditions that can result in mental retardation, serious health complications or death if left undetected and untreated; and to ensure that parents recognize their responsibility in promoting their child’s right to health and full development by protecting their child from causes of disability and death through newborn screening. – Jessica Ann Pareja/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)