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Directors Bio 3471 2756

AZUCENA MILANA-DAYANGHIRANG, MD, MCH, CESO III
ASSISTANT SECRETARY and EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
NATIONAL NUTRITION COUNCIL

Dr. Azucena M. Dayanghirang is an experienced public health leader. For the past 29 years, she has been a facilitator and a trainer for various health programs particularly on Maternal Child Health and Nutrition. She has served the people of Davao as City Nutrition Action Officer from 1991-1995; Chief of the Technical Services Division and Medical Officer VI of Davao City Health Office from 1996 to 2005; as well as the Provincial Health Officer II and Provincial Nutrition Action Officer of Davao del Sur from 2008 to 2016.

During her stint in the local government, she led the City Nutrition Committee in the planning, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of health and nutrition programs. She initiated the “Fresh Milk Supplemental Feeding Program,” which led to the reduction of protein-energy malnutrition among 0-6-year-old children. She also successfully lobbied for the regularization of 32 Nutritionist-Dietitians deployed in the 16 Districts of Davao City in 1996.

In 2016, she was elected as the National President of the Nutrition Action Officers' Association of the Philippines (NAOPA), Inc. Shortly after, she was appointed as Deputy Executive Director of the National Nutrition Council (NNC), an attached agency of the Department of Health, Philippines. In August 2019, Dr. Dayanghirang was appointed as the Executive Director of the NNC. Currently, she is designated as the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Philippines Government Focal Point and most recently, appointed as a member of the Executive Committee of the Global Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement representing Asia and Papua New Guinea.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte signed the appointment of Dr. Dayanghirang to Career Executive Service Officer (CESO) Rank III effective 3 December 2020. Recently, she was upgraded to Executive Director IV with the rank of Assistant Secretary as approved by President Duterte through Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on 21 July 2021.

NNC joins Philippine Multi-sectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) Orientation and Planning Workshop

Details
Category: Directors Corner

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August 16-18, 2022 , Assistant Secretary Azucena M. Dayanghirang , Executive Director of the National Nutrition Council delivered her Opening  Remarks during the Philippine Multi-sectoral Nutrition Project (PMNP) Orientation and Planning Workshop at Joy-Nostalg Hotel & Suites, Pasig Manila.

Said event was an avenue to further scale-up nutrition in the Philippines , building efforts to reach out stakeholders across sectors and strengthen the capacity of implementing agencies to facilitate project commitments for 3 Major Components namely :

  • Delivery of Nutrition & Primary Health Services
  • Community -Based Nutrition Service Delivery & Multisectoral Nutrition Convergence
  • Institutional strengthening, monitoring and evaluation

It was also a platform to share the programs , challenges and collaborative solutions , especially on strengthening mutual accountability at all levels from DOH, DSWD, NNC, the LGUs from Central, Regional and LGU levels.

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“  With the  erratic increase in price of fuel,  which incidentally is directly linked to food supply chain,  the equation of achieving food security has been altered.  As such,  it is even more difficult to predict now that  malnutrition will be reduced at a speed that we desire.  Given that hunger and malnutrition are multifactorial in nature ,  solutions must likewise be multilevel and multisectoral. Thus, an urgent, coordinated response and scaled-up investments from the government, donors, the private sector, the UN agencies and civil society are now more crucial. The coming in of the PMNP to the Philippines is very timely”   Asec. Dayanghirang addressed the audience.

 

ATongco,OED