Pakistan Launches Rs8.5bn Program to Tackle Malnutrition and Stunting
The Ministry of Planning Development and Special Initiatives in Pakistan has introduced a new program called National Multisectoral Nutrition to Reduce Stunting and other forms of Malnutrition. With a budget of Rs8.5 billion, this initiative is part of the Pakistan Nutrition Initiatives (PANI). The program was officially launched by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal at an event held at the Planning Commission office.
The objective of this multisectoral program is to address the high burden of stunting, particularly in disadvantaged districts that have experienced natural disasters or have limited resources. These districts include 12 in Balochistan, 10 in Sindh, five in Gilgit-Baltistan, and two each in Punjab and Azad Kashmir.
The main goal of the program is to reduce stunting and other forms of malnutrition by adopting a holistic approach. It aims to achieve this through various strategies, including the provision of micronutrients and nutritional supplements, ready-to-use therapeutic and supplementary foods for treating and preventing stunting and wasting, promoting healthy dietary practices and early childhood development, advocacy and behavioral change, researching local causes and solutions, developing local food supplements, and providing iron folic acid supplementation and deworming for adolescent girls, children, and pregnant and lactating women.
During the launch ceremony, Minister Ahsan Iqbal highlighted the high level of food insecurity in Pakistan, particularly in regions such as Balochistan and the newly merged districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa. According to the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) of 2018, nearly 37% of households in Pakistan are food insecure. He further emphasized that 40.2% of children under the age of five suffer from stunted growth, 29% are underweight, and 18% are wasted. These figures have remained stagnant for over three decades, and under-nutrition is responsible for almost half of all deaths in children under five.
The most common nutritional deficiencies in Pakistan are in iron, protein, vitamin A, vitamin D, zinc, and folic acid. Iron deficiency, in particular, affects children in the first two years of life and can lead to issues such as anemia, low birth weight, and poor weight gain. The NNS reveals that 49.1% of children in the country are iron deficient. Minister Iqbal stressed the importance of a multisectoral approach to address the underlying determinants of malnutrition, including food adulteration, poor water sanitation, health, and hygiene.
He stated that the PANI initiative is part of a wider effort to invest in the health and development of Pakistan’s population. As most social sectors have been devolved to the provinces after the eighteenth amendment, Minister Iqbal urged the provinces to take responsibility for initiating similar programs and aligning their resources with initiatives like PANI.
In summary, Pakistan has launched the National Multisectoral Nutrition program to tackle malnutrition and stunting. With an allocated budget of Rs8.5 billion, the initiative aims to reduce stunting and other forms of malnutrition through various strategies. The program specifically targets highly-burdened districts, including those affected by natural disasters and with limited resources. The launch of PANI emphasizes the need for a multisectoral approach and highlights the high prevalence of malnutrition in Pakistan, necessitating urgent action to improve the health and development of the country’s population.
