Bontoc health workers undergo nutrition training

 Alpine Killa-Malwagay

BONTOC, Mountain Province - Twenty-one health workers in this capital town underwent a four-day training of trainers on basic course for barangay nutrition scholars on April 4-7 at Samoki village.
    The participants were Municipal Health Officer Dr. Diga Kay Gomez, Municipal Nutrition Action Officer Venous Faith Cofulan, midwives in 16 barangays of Bontoc, barangay health worker coordinator, and barangay nutrition scholars (BNS).
    According to Cofulan, the training aimed to capacitate the BNS to effectively deliver nutrition services and other related activities such as community health; backyard food production; environmental sanitation; culture, mental feeding, and family planning to the barangay.
    Mayor Franklin Odsey who chairs the Municipal Nutrition Council approved the training proposal funded by the Bontoc local government under its Nutrition Program and Gender and Development (GAD) Fund recognizing the need to enhance knowledge of health workers and develop their skills on health and nutrition since they are the ones who are in the frontline in the delivery of basic health services in villages.
    As its counterpart, the National Nutrition Council Cordillera Administrative Region (NNC-CAR) provided resource speakers.
Resource speakers from NNC-CAR were officer in charge regional nutrition program coordinator Bella Basalong, nutrition officers Velanie Dao-ines and Perlyne Martin.
    Midwife Lilia Angagka from Bontoc Municipal Health Office was also resource speaker.
    Module 1 covered four sessions including legal mandates and rationale of the BNS on selection, recruitment, benefits, and incentives, roles, function and core values.
    Module 2 covered the topic of Basic Concepts on Food and Nutrition; Understanding Food and Nutrition Concepts; and Malnutrition: Forms, Causes, and Consequences.
    Module 3 focused on developing skills of the BNS with seven sessions: skills on communication, presentation, advocacy, documentation, report writing, and record-keeping, time management, organization and coordinating skills.
    Module 4 was on situating barangay nutrition program in local development system with three sessions -- nutrition program management, definition, principles, characteristics and Uses; BNP in local development system and organizing, mobilizing or reactivating.
    Module 5 included topics on role of BNS in barangay nutrition program management, assessing, planning and implementing BNS.
    A BNS expressed her gratitude to the Bontoc LGU through the Municipal Health Office and the NNC-CAR for the opportunity of undergoing the said training.