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Healthy Public Food Procurement in Quezon City, Philippines

Resolve to Save Lives

Case study on the development and implementation of a healthy public food procurement policy

Agenda In the Philippines, non-communicable diseases (NCDs) account for 69% of all deaths, with cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) being the leading cause of death for Filipinos, resulting in more than 200,000 deaths every year. About 81,000 of these deaths are attributed to dietary risk factors. With 2.9 million people, Quezon City (QC) is the most populous city in the Philippines. It is committed to combatting NCDs, as part of the C40 Cities Climate Leadership Group and Partnership for Healthy Cities. To promote a healthy and sustainable diet, the city initiated the development of a healthy food procurement policy in 2020, with two aims: First, to develop and pilot a model healthy public food procurement policy for QC; and second, to secure a national endorsement of the policy that prompts local government units (LGUs) to implement it nationwide and use the model policy as the basis of a national policy.