ADDRESSING an event regarding health related targets under UN Sustainable Development Goals, Adviser on Health Dr Zafar Mirza said the government will launch Rs 500 billion program to tackle the consequences of the country’s high burden of stunting and childhood malnutrition.
Pakistan is reported to have one of the highest prevalence of child malnutrition as compared to other developing countries. According to the UN, more than 44% of Pakistani children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth due to chronic malnutrition. As per the National Nutrition Survey, 33% of our children are underweight, nearly 44% stunted and 50% are anaemic. Keeping these figures in view, a comprehensive nutrition programme indeed is need of the hour which should have been launched much earlier. It is regrettable that whilst focus of our previous governments remained on building motorways and expressways but no serious effort was made to address this complex issue which is the fundamental cause of morbidity and mortality amongst the children and also affects the future health and socio-economic development of children and the dynamic prospective of the society. Anyway it is really a matter of satisfaction that incumbent Prime Minister Imran Khan from day one in power has not only repeatedly talked about the grim statistics of stunted growth of our children but now has also envisaged a plan to cope with the issue which indeed would require inter-sectoral collaboration to make this program a complete success story. Early marriages, large family size, high fertility rates with a lack of birth spacing, low income and the lack of breastfeeding and exclusive breastfeeding are found to be major determinants of child malnutrition. These issues need to be addressed along with availability of food across the board to each and every poor family. Education of the communities, that how to deal with the malnutrition like hygiene is the main part for the correction of malnutrition, because if a child is suffering from diarrhea due to unsafe drinking water, so the nutrition whatsoever one feeds her or him, it will not work. So these are some problem areas which have to be corrected. The focus of such a nutrition plan should be the backward areas such as Tharparkar districts where every year hundreds of children are dying due to malnutrition, various infections and lack of medical facilities.