The government should immediately fund the implementation of the newly signed Republic Act No. 11148 or the ‘First 1,000 Days of Life’ law to reduce malnutrition in the country and make Filipino children healthier, La Union 2nd District Rep. Sandra Y. Eriguel said.
“I am hopeful that the amount needed to carry out the mandate of this new measure would be included in the proposed CY 2019 budgets of the implementing agencies, including the Department of Health (DoH), considering that the CY 2019 General Appropriations Bill will still go through the bicameral conference committee before its ratification by both Houses of Congress,” Eriguel said.
“This law will improve the nutritional status of Filipino children and prepare them to become productive citizens,” said Eriguel, a medical doctor who is a vice chairperson of the House Committee on Health. She is one of the principal authors of the consolidated House Bill No. 5777 which was approved by the House of Representatives on September 25, 2017.
Eriguel served as chairperson of the Technical Working Group that deliberated on the 16 House bills, including her own version. The TWG eventually recommended these bills for consolidation and approval as House Bill No. 5777.
The law, which is also known as ‘Kalusugan at Nutrisyon ng Mag-Nanay Act’ aims to scale up the national and local health nutrition programs through a strengthened integrated strategy for maternal, neonatal, child health and nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life.
President Rodrigo Duterte signed RA 11148 into law on November 29, 2018.
It is estimated that the inoculation of 2.7 million pregnant women against tetanus and diphtheria, one of the programs under the law, would require P17 billion. Aside from vaccination, the law also supports deworming, Vitamin A drops, as well as iron and food supplements to infants and women.
Eriguel said that the law was passed to highlight the importance of nutrition intervention programs in the first 1,000 days of a child’s life.
The statute requires government agencies, particularly the DoH, to allocate resources in a sustainable manner to improve the nutritional status and to address the malnutrition of infants and young children from zero to 2 years old, adolescent females, pregnant and lactating women as well as to ensure growth and development of infants and young children.
The act aims to integrate the short, medium and long-term plans of the government to end hunger, improve health and nutrition and reduce malnutrition.
It also seeks to strengthen Executive Order No. 51 or the ‘Milk Code’ and RA 10028 or the ‘Expanded Breastfeeding Promotion Act of 2009.’