CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6 medical supplies, equipment and other health and nutrition products; research and development; human resource development; and other health-related services. 433. With the devolution of health services to local government units, every province, city or municipality has a local health board chaired by the local chief executive. The provincial and district hospitals are now under the provincial government while the municipal government manages the rural health units and barangay health stations (BHS). In 1997, there were 1,817 hospitals with total bed capacity of 86,468 or one per 868 people (NSO 1999b). Three years later, the number of hospitals fell to 1,712 with total bed capacity of 81,016, or one per 1,060 people (NSO 2002). Closures were noted in both private and public sectors, but there were more private hospitals closing down (79) than government hospitals (23). By 2001, the 640 public hospitals represented 37.5 percent of the total, up from 35.5 percent in 1997. They also provided more than half of all hospital beds in the country. In 2000, some 15,204 BHS served the 42,020 villages across the country, each BHS catering to about 5,277 people. 434. Although the health care system is extensive, its access, especially by the poor, is hampered by high costs and physical, social and cultural barriers. The number of human resources for health are large but unevenly distributed. Most heath practitioners are in the private sector in Metro Manila and other urban centers. In 2000, the ratios of government health workers to the population were one doctor per 9,797 people, one dentist per 36,481, one nurse per 7,361 and one midwife per 4,503. 435. The uneven distribution of health resources in urban and rural areas put rural women at a disadvantage. Devolving health administration to local governments under the Local Government Code is likely to adversely affect women’s health if local governments do not undertake immediate measures to ensure that budgets are allocated, revenues raised, and health workers trained. Nutrition situation 436. As in most developing countries, the malnutrition problem in the Philippines is more of deficiency rather than excess. Nutritional deficiencies are widespread and recognized as a national problem. The typical Filipino diet consists of rice, fish or meat, some vegetables and an occasional fruit. The series of national food and nutrition surveys conducted by the Food and Nutrition Research Institute from 1978 to 1993 showed a generally declining trend in mean per capita total food consumption and in consumption of major food groups, especially cereals and products (from 367g in 1978 to 340g in 1993) and fruits (from 104g to 77g). Meanwhile, mean per capita total food consumption of vegetables (from 95g to 106g) is increasing. Only the consumption of fish, meat and poultry remained higher than the 1978 level, although there was a significant drop between 1987 and 1993 (from 157g to 147g). 437. The 1998 National Nutrition Survey showed that, compared with the results of the 1993 and 1996 surveys, females and males at various ages experienced similar nutritional deterioration. Generally, females at various life stages were shorter and lighter than their male peers. In terms of prevalence of malnutrition, the following patterns were noted. At age 0-5 years, boys and girls had practically the same nutrition status, while among children 6-10 years old, girls had lower malnutrition rates than boys: 25 percent versus 35 percent for underweight, and 35 117