MANILA – ASEAN leaders have agreed to address problems on malnutrition with their adoption of the Declaration on Ending All Forms of Malnutrition during the 31st ASEAN Summit.
In a statement issued Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) said the declaration embodies the highest level of political commitment toward a multi-sectoral collaborative approach on food security and nutrition among the sectors of agriculture, public health and nutrition, social welfare and other relevant stakeholders.
"The ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Ending All Forms of Malnutrition confirms the critical importance of addressing malnutrition, particularly stunting, immediately and strategically. Increasingly, nutrition is seen as a maker and marker of development, essential to the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals," the statement read.
It said the transformative Agenda 2030 is grounded in the goal of leaving no one behind and the strategic measures of the ASEAN Socio-cultural Community to promote a community that is healthy, caring, sustainable and productive, and one that practices a healthy lifestyle resilient to health threats and has universal access to health care.
The ASEAN, it added, is home to 17.9 million girls and boys who are too short for their age and face diminished mental development, with irreversible consequences for individuals, families, communities and countries.
According to the statement, ASEAN leaders have tasked the ASEAN health ministers to monitor the progress of the Declaration and support the delivery of nutrition-specific and nutrition-sensitive interventions.
In March 2018, the Philippines will lead the formulation of the framework of action for nutrition and a strategic plan to implement the Declaration among the 10 ASEAN member countries.
"Programs will have to cover both extremes - undernutrition and obesity - and will have to be addressed by providing proper nutrition," DOH spokesperson, Dr. Lyndon Lee Suy, said during a media briefing last Monday.
He said the country is addressing malnutrition by promoting a healthy lifestyle to address obesity, and the intake of nutritious food by undernourished children, as well as strengthening the breastfeeding campaign and ensuring that attention is given to the nutrition of mothers so that the infant would receive proper nutrition on its first 1,000 days.
Lee Suy said the country is also learning from the different practices of fellow ASEAN members on how to curb malnutrition. (PNA)
