Daily Times Letters Malnutrition in Pakistan Sir: More than 1.5 million children in Pakistan are currently suffering from acute malnutrition, making them susceptible to infectious diseases that at times lead to death. Long-term (chronic) malnutrition undermines both physical and mental development. Nearly half of Pakistan’s children are chronically malnourished, their brain and immune systems impaired, with life-long consequences. This situation has not improved for over forty years. Pakistan would be left behind in the global economy if it fails to act soon. Pakistan risks encountering a ‘demographic nightmare’ from a growing unskilled, unproductive population, rather than the ‘demographic dividend’. Being an agricultural country and producing wheat in abundance, malnutrition should not have been an issue of that intensity in Pakistan. The current malnutrition crisis in Pakistan has been estimated to cost the economy 3 percent of GDP per year; Pakistan cannot afford to sustain this drain on the economy. This is due to the estimated impact of malnutrition on learning, earning and health. International examples show that improved nutrition improves growth. To put this in perspective, the energy crisis is estimated to cost 2 percent of GDP. The newly elected federal government must take the issue of malnutrition seriously and declare an emergency to address it on a war footing. Through health sector interventions, only the rate of stunting (chronic malnutrition) could be cut by one third. Other sectors such as social protection, water and sanitation, agriculture and education should be effectively used to face the challenge. However, to yield results, a committed leadership is required to plan and implement multi-sectoral interventions. Dr Danish Islamabad
Posted on: Sun, 16 Jun 2013 04:35:53 +0000
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