President calls for addressing the stunting & malnutrition in children

ISLAMABAD, August 24: While talking to UN World Food Programme’s Special Advisor on Mother and Child Nutrition, Princess Sarah Zeid of Jordan, President DrArifAlvi has called for addressing various issues in the health sector, including stunting and malnutrition in children, mother and child health care, and lack of health facilities for the masses, especially in the rural areas of the country.
He said that the Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) and the UN World Food Programme (UNWFP) were collaborating to launch the country’s largest national flagship stunting prevention programme named the Benazir NashonumaProgramme (BNP) which would initially target 1.5 million pregnant women, lactating mothers and children who were registered with BISP as the vulnerable segment of the population.
The President appreciated the role of all stakeholder’s public and private sector and international organizations such as UNWFP, UNICEF, WHO, and UNFPA for their effective and sustained professional support and commitment to this important initiative, especially during the first 1000 days of maternal and child health which were crucial in overcoming stunting and malnutrition in children.
Talking about the population growth, the President said that around 10 million annual pregnancies in Pakistan could be reduced by 50% by improving people’s access to contraceptives and Intrauterine Devices to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
He said that close and effective coordination at the government level and with the private, semi-private and international relevant organizations was paramount to chalk out a time-bound national action program with a clear vision, mission and KPIs to bring about a substantial reduction in our population growth rate which was putting an enormous burden on our scarce economic and financial resources.