THE AGREEMENT UNITED AGAINST ANEMIA AND CHILD MALNUTRITION THROUGH WORKS-FOR-TAXES WAS SIGNED
Lima, December 12, 2023.- PROINVERSIÓN, the Ministry of Economy and Finance (MEF), the Ministry of Health (MINSA), the Regional Governments of Arequipa and Cusco, the Alliance for Works for Taxes (ALOXI), CONFIEP and the National Society of Industries (SNI) signed an agreement United Against Anemia and Child Malnutrition through Works for Taxes, to reverse the serious incidence of this disease in the country's infants by implementing projects and investments through the Works for Taxes mechanism.
The signing of the agreement was promoted by PROINVERSIÓN because anemia and child malnutrition are two serious problems affecting our country, because they have a direct negative impact on the cognitive development of our children and, therefore, on their quality of life. According to the ENDES (2022), prepared by the National Institute of Statistics and Informatics (INEI), in Peru 42.4% of our children between 6 and 35 months of age (39% in urban areas and 51.5% in rural areas) suffer from anemia, while 11.7% of children under 5 years of age (7.1% urban area and 23.9% rural area) suffer from malnutrition.
With the signing of the agreement, the entities that subscribed are committed in an articulated and multisectoral manner to implement concrete actions that allow the execution of projects and public interventions that address the problems related to anemia and child malnutrition that affect the most vulnerable people. Within this framework, there will be a roadmap that takes into consideration the lessons learned from previous experiences, lessons learned and success stories in the reduction of anemia and child malnutrition, thus achieving the implementation of innovative and sustainable interventions and/or investment projects to prevent and effectively and sustainably reduce anemia and child malnutrition that affects our country, through the articulation of unsolicited proposal in Works for Taxes.
The event was attended by the Minister of Economy and Finance, Alex Contreras; the Regional Governor of Arequipa, Rohel Sánchez; the Regional Governor of Cusco, Werner Salcedo; the Deputy Minister of Health Benefits and Insurance of MINSA, Ciro Mestas; the President of ALOXI, Darío Zegarra; the President of CONFIEP, Alfonso Bustamante; the Executive Director of PROINVERSIÓN, José Salardi; among other officials and authorities.
The head of PROINVERSIÓN, José Salardi, highlighted the signing of the agreement because it will strengthen the commitment of public and private entities to identify and implement projects and/or investments through Works for Taxes and reduce the incidence of this disease in our children; and offered the signatory entities the technical support of the agency to achieve this objective.
The Minister of Economy and Finance, Alex Contreras, said that the signing of the agreement is a clear example of how working in coordination between the public and private sectors, we can generate a high impact because a country in which citizens cannot develop their full potential is a country without a future. In this sense, he highlighted the use of the works for taxes mechanism for this type of intervention because it reflects the public-private effort to improve the quality of life of Peruvians.
For his part, the Deputy Minister of Health Benefits and Insurance of MINSA, Ciro Mestas, pointed out that this type of intervention changes the concept of health expenditure to health investments. "The return on this type of investment is extremely high because we are talking about the health of Peruvians in the next century. If we continue working together, we will have a better future in health," he said.
Also, the president of CONFIEP, Alfonso Bustamante, commented that the signing of the agreement is the union for a Peru with a future, it is a national crusade to fight against this evil. "The fact that this issue is on the agenda of the MEF, MINSA, regional governors and the private sector fills me with pride," he said. He highlighted the use of the Works for Taxes mechanism for this purpose because it is an efficient mechanism. "The public sector is doing its job, now it is up to the private sector to embrace this mechanism and apply it, and what better way to do it than by combating anemia," he said.
Some public entities are already working to this end. This is the case of the Regional Government of Arequipa, which has announced the upcoming prioritization of the project to improve basic healthcare services and reduce anemia in 185 production units in 93 districts and 8 provinces of the department of Arequipa. In this regard, the regional governor of Arequipa, Rohel Sanchez, called on other regional authorities to use the Works for Taxes mechanism to combat anemia.
Source: Press Release - PROINVERSIÓN