The Department of Science and Technology (DOST) announced Friday, Aug. 20 that it will be conducting a study on the state of nutrition in areas hit by disasters and calamities.
DOST Secretary Fortunato “Boy” T. de la Peña said the research study will be conducted by the DOST-Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) in collaboration with DOST-VIII through Provincial Science and Technology Center (PSTC) Eastern Samar.
The study is entitled, “An Assessment of Implementation of Policies Protecting Health and Nutrition Rights of Vulnerable Groups in Emergencies”.
“The project aims to assess the nutrition in emergency situations in areas amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and areas that experienced natural calamities or disasters from 2019 to 2020,” de la Peña said.
He said during a virtual meeting, the research plan was presented on August 5.
“The study is composed of two phases, the first one will look into nutrition during emergency situations amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and will be done in Luzon,” the DOST chief said.
“The second phase will assess the nutrition in emergency situations at areas that have experienced natural calamities or disasters such as the typhoons, earthquakes and phreatic eruption during the last quarter of 2019 and in 2020,” he added.
He said the municipality of Salcedo, Eastern Samar, being one of those areas greatly affected by strong typhoons particularly Typhoon Ursula in December 2019 and Typhoon Ambo in May 2020, was selected as one of the study sites for Phase 2.