THE National Nutrition Council (NNC)-Davao announced that the Early Childhood Care and Development Intervention Package (ECCD-IP) for the First 1,000 Days Program that was planned last year will finally be pilot tested in Davao del Sur this month.
NNC leads the ECCD-IP of their First 1000 Days Program, aiming to contribute to the full development of the child through integrated services of health, nutrition, early education, and social services from the first day of the mother's pregnancy until her child turns two years old.
NNC-Davao Regional Nutrition Program coordinator Dr. Maria Tesa Ungson, in an interview, said the pilot areas for the ECCD-IP are Hagonoy, Magsaysay, and Digos City.
"We are targeting first the areas where there are limited health care centers," Ungson said.
The ECCD-IP, Ungson added, has a P15 million budget providing different services for pregnant women to assure the proper nutrition and good health condition of both mother and her child for three years, 2017 to 2020, in which an assessment will be done after to determine if they will be implementing it nationwide.
It will be composed of free pre-natal checkups for four months, post-natal checkups for two months, breastfeeding assistance for six months, immunization for the newborn babies, supplements for mothers, and nutrition guide for the children from zero to two years old.
"We will also be extending the program to Davao Occidental before this year ends since we sought that great number of pregnant women there have limited access to free checkups in health centers," Ungson said.
Ungson added that they also planned to provide gardening amenities in each province to promote healthy eating by growing vegetables and fruits.
Ungson said, the First 1000 Days Program of NNC has been considered as the "golden window of opportunity" for its comprehensive package of nutrition and related interventions to achieve significant changes in the reduction of child stunting, underweight and wasting, at the same time contribute to complete child development.
The project is in partnership with the local government of different provinces and cities with the assistance from Department of Health, Department of Social Welfare and Development and Department of Agriculture.