Tuesday, November 07, 2006 Nutripan project receives award
FOR using the results of a food fortification research to reduce the incidence of anemia among the city’s school children, the group that started the Nutripan sa Eskwelahan project was given the Outstanding Health Research Award this year.
The Nutripan sa Eskwelahan, the bread fortification project of the Nutrition Center of the Philippines (NCP), is currently implemented in 20 public schools in Cebu City.
After several studies that started in the 1970s and a close monitoring of some school children, the NCP was able to prove that bread fortified with vitamin A and iron reduced the incidence of anemia and vitamin A deficiency.
The Philippine Council for Health Research recognized the NCP’s efforts in showing the link between research and practice through the use of the study’s results in the health delivery system.
For former Cebu City mayor and NCP Director Florentino Solon, the award showed that their use of science-based evidence in promoting the health of children was effective.
“When we found out it was effective, we didn’t just write the research results in a journal, compiled it and keep it in the cabinet. We put it to use by institutionalizing it to be adopted by the government,” Solon told Sun.Star Cebu.
The Food Fortification Study Group of the NCP was given the 2006 Outstanding Health Research Award (Ohra) for the Health Services Research category during the 7th Health Research for Action National Forum in Manila last Sept. 29.
The Ohra is a national award given every two years jointly by the Philippine Council for Health Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology, and Department of Health.
One of the studies conducted by the NCP was the efficacy trial on iron and vitamin A fortified pan de sal in Cebu from 2003 to 2005.
Results of the study showed that pan de sal baked from wheat flour and fortified with iron and vitamin A significantly reduced the prevalence of moderate anemia among anemic school children.
The NCP has translated the flour fortification studies into a school-based health intervention program that is scientifically tested and sustainable.
Through the Nutripan sa Eskwelahan project, iron and vitamin A fortified bread is now available in 20 public schools in Cebu and 13 others in Samar, Leyte, Batangas and Makati City. (LCR)
