Child stunting at national level: PM directs authorities to present plan with provinces’ nod

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the concerned authorities to prepare and present a comprehensive plan in collaboration with the provinces regarding child stunting to be initiated at the national level.

The prime minister was presiding over a high-level meeting of international experts on Friday to address the decline in child development. He thanked the representatives of international organisations and experts who participated in the meeting.

In the meeting, a detailed report on the data regarding the development of children in Pakistan was presented to the prime minister by the World Bank.

The meeting was told that a large number of children in Pakistan are at risk of stunting.

Highlighting the reasons, the meeting was told that inadequate basic health facilities, lack of essential nutrients, use of contaminated water, inadequate sanitation and lack of awareness regarding development are the main reasons for the decline in the growth of children.

The meeting was also briefed on the suggestions for solving these reasons.

Apart from this, Pakistan's statistics regarding TB, hepatitis, diabetes and other infectious diseases were also presented to the meeting and suggestions were made to prevent them. He directed the concerned authorities to immediately prepare and present a comprehensive plan in this regard and provincial government should be consulted to start the program at the national level.

Federal ministers, Ahsan Iqbal and Ahad Khan Cheema, Prime Minister's Coordinator Malik Mukhtar Ahmed Bharat, Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Jahanzeb Khan, relevant senior government officials, World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil, World Food program representative in Pakistan, Coco Ushiyama, and other world-renowned experts participated in the meeting.

Chief secretaries of the four provinces, Dr Zaulfiqar Ali Bhatta, Dr Sajid Sufi, Dr Ijaz Nabi, and world-renowned experts from related fields attended the meeting through video link.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024