Unequipped to feed the under-fed
Without a proper policy, awareness or trained dietitians, children across the country will continue to suffer
KARACHI:
Over a third of all children in Pakistan are chronically malnourished (stunted), while 30 per cent of under children under the age of five are acutely malnourished (wasted). This situation contributes to high mortality and morbidity rates among children under the age of five, undermining their mental and physical growth and leading to a significant economic impact on their development and prosperity.
Malnutrition of this nature occurs when the mother or the child do not get the right amount of nutrition increase with every year. While the government has been building healthcare centres, it has been unable to cope with this situation due to the unavailability of qualified dieticians and the lack of a unified policy on this across the country.
A paramedic prepares a dose of the Sinopharm s coronavirus vaccine, donated by China, before administering it to a health worker at a vaccination centre in Karachi. Reuters/File
KARACHI: Pakistan and other countries around the world can still achieve targets under the sustainable development goals (SDGs) despite challenges posed by the Covid-19 pandemic, said researchers and development experts at a recent online seminar organised by Aga Khan University’s Institute for Global Health and Development (IGHD).
The pandemic, they said, had forced countries to consider the possible global impact of local events and take emergency actions that seemed unthinkable before it. This bodes well for future collaborations to achieve targets under the SDGs.