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Terming the situation of child health in Pakistan as abysmal, leading Pediatrician Professor Dr Muhammad Yaqoob Qazi said, Under-5 child mortality in the country is one of the highest in the world calling for taking serious efforts by all the stakeholders to save the lives of thousands of children who die every year from preventable diseases.
"Access to child healthcare and education is a challenge for many families who simply cannot afford providing these facilities to their children and today's economic crunch, especially the increase in food prices, will have a widespread negative impact on children's education and health," said, Professor Qazi, who is former Professor of Paediatric Mayo Hospital Lahore and currently serving at Fatima Memorial Hospital.
Talking to Business Recorder, Dr Qazi expressed serious concerns over mal-nutrition among children in the country, asking for provision of health and nutritional products for children at cheaper rates. Nearly, four in 10 Under-five children in Punjab are stunted while nearly two out of every 10 children Under-five also suffer from wasting, a form of malnutrition which puts affected children at high risk of dying, he said while quoting a survey. He said that food and nutrition may be used as a tool for preventive health.
Expressing concern over child mortality in Pakistan, Professor Qazi said, "With every one among 10 children dying before reaching the age of five and one among 30 just after they are born. The main reason at the back of mounting child mortality in Pakistan is lack of child healthcare."
According to him, holistic approach is needed to improve maternal and newborn health, mainly by improving and upgrading facilities at district hospitals. The most common and lethal diseases among children include acute respiratory tract infection, viral infections diarrhea, dysentery, Among the victims of acute respiratory tract infection, the most vulnerable are children whose immune systems have been weakened by malnutrition.
Professor Dr Qazi further said, "Often children report with delayed milestones suffer delayed physical and psychological growth as both their bodies and brains do not develop as they normally should. This problem is seen even among children from affluent class, reason being their food lacks in macro and micronutrients they might look chubby, and otherwise, poor immunity due to these deviancies.
"Stunted children have a seven-month delay in starting school. They have low IQ and are more likely to repeat a grade of school. These children complete one year less of schooling and are less likely to graduate high school," Professor Qazi said.
He called for taking steps for addressing this issue on war footing and recommended to start awareness campaign involving print and TV media on this subject so that parents learn about the importance of food and nutrition for a child health and can identify and report such problems in time. Similarly, awareness programme at school level can help the children to learn directly on importance of nutrition and health, he added.
Dr Qazi also expressed his concern about the cost of available remedies for stunted growth in children and requested concerned authorities to make sure that food and nutritional supplements for malnourished children are available at affordable prices; if the government has to sacrifice revenue in the form of duties and taxes for this purpose they must do it as children are future of Pakistan. "Cost effectiveness of nutritional products is a concern for every one; however, research shows that most of these quality nutritional remedies are imported in Pakistan and the government is charging 63-percent duties and taxes that our policy makers can look into so that our children can have bite of macro and micronutrients to secure their health," he added.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2019

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