Navotas is set to open the first Community-Based Management of Acute Malnutrition Outpatient Therapeutic Center in the National Capital Region.
A memorandum of agreement was signed by Navotas City’s Health Office, City Nutrition Office, and barangay chairmen with the nongovernmental group Save the Children to establish the center.
The CMAM-OTC will provide treatment and rehabilitation to severe acute malnutrition patients using Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food and will regularly monitor their progress.
The Department of Health will supply the RUTF.
CMAM is a methodology for treating acute malnutrition in young children using a case-finding and triage approach. It helps in the timely detection of SAM in the community and provision of treatment to those without medical complications.
“We are grateful that the Save the Children chose to set up the first CMAM-OTC in NCR here in Navotas. More than just an on-point treatment facility for the severely malnourished, the center helps provide long-term solutions to the city’s malnutrition problem,” Mayor John Rey Tiangco said.
In March 2016, Navotas in partnership with Save the Children initially launched the CMAM Pilot Project in North Bay Boulevard North (NBBN).
NBBN was found to have the highest prevalence of wasting or acute malnutrition in children between 6 to 59 months old based on the city’s annual Operation Timbang Plus.
The city will officially launch the District I CMAM-OTC within this month at the Barangay North Bay Boulevard South Phase 1C Multi-Purpose Hall.
A CMAM-OTC in District II at Barangay San Roque is also underway.