Over the years, Nutriset has developed a range of nutritional solutions, such as Plumpy'Nut®, the world's first ready-to-use therapeutic food (RUTF), that have become essential supplies for health programmes to effectively prevent and treat malnutrition worldwide. In the Philippines, Nutriset provides its expertise in support to the Department of Health (DoH) and within the framework of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition, PPAN 2017 – 2022.
The company is mobilized to supply health programmes with its specialized food products destined to vulnerable population groups, such as children and pregnant and breastfeeding women whose nutritional care and supplementation is essential for their health. Under the leadership of the DoH, and in partnership with other stakeholders such as UN agencies, NGOs, CBOs, Nutriset is positioned as a key private sector actor to help the scaling-up of nutrition-sensitive interventions in the Philippines.
The PPAN 2017 – 2022 sets ambitious goals in the fight against malnutrition in the Philippines. It aims to reduce stunting (chronic malnutrition) from 33.4 to 21 percent, and wasting (acute malnutrition) from 7.9 percent to less than 5 percent. It also targets the increasingly concerning problem of the "double burden" that affects the country, when all population groups are negatively impacted by both overweight/obesity and micronutrient deficiencies.
To reduce the prevalence of wasting and stunting, the DoH plans a number of interventions to provide children under five years old and pregnant and breastfeeding women with nutritional supplementation. Following this move, Nutriset has ensured that its products are registered in the Philippines, to support community-based nutritional support activities and facilitate the roll-out of infant and young child feeding (IYCF) dietary supplementation.
With products now registered in the Philippines, Nutriset directly supports 4 key nutrition-specific interventions of the PPAN 2017-2022 and to the following indicators:
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Plumpy’Nut® and Plumpy’SupTM: Reduce wasting among under-five children (7.1% to < 5%)
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Plumpy’MumTM: Reduce micronutrient deficiencies, especially anemia and iodine deficiency disorder among pregnant and lactating women
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Enov® LNS-SQ range: Reduce stunting among under-five children (33.4% to 28.0%)
The long-term partnership approach of Nutriset reflects its interest in building sustainable solutions to achieve the PPAN 2017-2022, acknowledging that this fight requires coordinated multi-stakeholder interventions at all levels. Nutriset is ready to contribute to the nutritional autonomy for all in the Philippines.