Carmen, Cebu Receives Monitoring Tools for Nutrition in Early Warning System

Now on its 2nd year of the implementation of the Nutrition in Early Warning System (NEWS), the Municipality of Carmen, Cebu is delighted to receive their new set of weighing scales and steel rules during its core group meeting on 22 February 2017 at the Birthing Home, Carmen, Cebu.

Municipal Councilor and Chair, Committee on Health Hon. Vicente K. Laping received the five weighing scales and height boards to be used by the sentinel barangays. These were handed over by NNC 7’s Nutrition Officer II Nasudi G. Soluta and NO I Julie Vannie B. Palaca.

Fifty participants from MAO, MSWDO, MHO, MPDO, interns from CDU-BSND, and representatives from the EWS sentinel barangays were present during the turn-over. The activity was conducted back to back with the presentation of the 4th quarter data collected by the NEWS team.

Nutrition in Early Warning System is a type of food security information system that monitors and analyzes relevant information that may foretell a possible crisis such as food shortage or health problem. It is a regular and periodic collection of relevant data (e.g. food production, climate, food prices, etc.) to determine status of food supply and food security in a community. (FAO, 2007. Food and Security Information System and Networks)

Carmen NEWS team is challenged to continually strive to ensure the availability and sustainability of food in the entire municipality through conduct of activities to promote appropriate complementary feeding as well as include livelihood projects as part of their nutrition interventions by targeting families with malnourished children.

Thea team must also immediately address the high prevalence of wasting through timely case finding and proper nutrition referral since their community workers have not been trained in CMAM yet.