NNC partners with media against malnutrition

CEBU, Philippines – To strengthen the advocacy against hunger and malnutrition, the National Nutrition Council yesterday signed a memorandum of agreement with the Kapisanan ng mga Brodkaster ng Pilipinas for the purpose.

KBP-Cebu chapter president Carlo Duga-Duga emphasized the role of media in promoting good nutrition not only in Central Visayas but also in the whole country and abroad.

"Bisan unsa pa ka kagamay sa katilingban, aduna ka'y dakong kabahinan sa pag-pangalagad sa atong mga kaigsoonan," Duga-Duga said.

He also believes that poverty is still the primary problem in the society and malnutrition and hunger are one of its ill-effects in the community.

NNC-7 Nutrition Program coordinator, Dr. Parolita Mission said that this is a higher level of partnership for NNC and KBP in the achievement of nutritional goals.

"We know that the power of media can reach out in great number of people through their voices and their pens," Mission told The FREEMAN.

KBP vice-president and dyHP station manager, Atty. Ruphil Bañoc and NNC-7 Nutrition Officer Susan Orpilla stood as witnesses of the MOA signing.

At the same time, NNC and KBP launched the Broadcaster's Manual, which serves as a guide for media practitioners in the information dissemination for good nutrition and hunger mitigation program.

Representatives from different media outlets also signed a covenant called "Media Information Network for Nutrition and Development (MIND-7)," an information and resource-sharing network for food and nutrition. Based on the survey of Social Weather Stations, in the third quarter of this year, 20 million Filipinos suffer from hunger while 15.9 percent or an estimated three million families that suffer from hunger are said to be from Central Visayas.

To address this problem, NNC implemented the Accelerated Hunger - Mitigation Program in food-poor priority areas, which include Negros Oriental and Bohol provinces.

Aside from the KBP officers and media personalities in broadcast and print, provincial and city information officers, Philippine Information Agency, NNC resource persons and the Cebu Bloggers' Society also took part in supporting NNC in the fight against hunger and malnutrition. (FREEMAN)