“Nutrition is crucial to both individual and
national development. The evidence in the Lancet Series on Maternal and Child
Nutrition furthers the evidence base that good nutrition is a fundamental
driver of a wide range of developmental goals. “The post 2015 sustainable
development agenda must put addressing all forms of malnutrition at the top of
its goal” was a unanimous agreement at the launch of the Lancet Series in
Pakistan. Lancet is a pioneer medical research journal which focuses on health
issues. The launch ceremony was well attended by representatives of the federal
and provincial governments, UN agencies, donors, academia, media and civil
society.
While
there has been a tremendous increase in a global political commitment to
improve nutrition; yet this has translated into a modest impact. This presents
a substantial unfinished agenda i.e. to address the cause of 45% (3.1 million)
of all under 5 child deaths due to malnutrition said the President and CEO of
Save the Children US, Carolyn S. Miles observed in her opening remarks at the launching ceremony in Islamabad. In Pakistan
alone, 35% of all under five deaths can be attributed to the menace of malnutrition
observed Ms. Miles.
She
further noted that the national and international momentum to address human
nutrition and related food security and health needs has never been higher but
we have to seize this opportunity and take concrete actions. Carolyn Miles
reaffirmed Save the Children’s commitment to the cause of addressing
malnutrition and assured that Save the Children will remain a frontline ally
for responding to nutrition issues in Pakistan.
One of the leading
global experts on nutrition and a lead author of the Lancet Series Dr. Zulfiqar A. Bhutta from the Agha Khan University presented the
key finding of the four papers. Breastfeeding practices are far from optimum,
despite improvements in some countries said Dr. Bhutta. Sub optimum
breastfeeding results in an increased risk for mortality in the first 2 years
of life and results in 800,000 deaths annually. Furthermore, nearly 15% of
deaths of children younger than 5 years can be reduced (i.e. 1 million lives
saved), if the ten core nutrition interventions identified in the Lancet Series
are scaled up.
“If we want to address issues of malnutrition
we would need long term sustained initiatives. This includes food security,
child protection, gender dynamics which calls for nutrition sensitive
interventions such as programs aimed at poverty alleviation, empowering women,
targeted agriculture safety nets and early childhood development programs”
recommended Dr. Bhutta.
“Pakistan has made insufficient investments in
nutrition sensitive interventions that are critical to produce policy change
and impact” lamented Dr. Bhutta and called for a collective societal approach,
whereby all segments of society such as media, government, civil society and
public work in collaboration to provide an enabling environment which puts the
issue of malnutrition at the center stage.
“The
Lancet Series in 2008 identified the need to focus on the crucial period from
conception to a child’s second birthday-the 1000 days in which good nutrition
has lasting benefits throughout life”.
“In Pakistan,
about one quarter of the new borns are born at a low birth weight. Whereas, one
half of the children suffer from chronic malnutrition. This seriously
undermines the prosperous
development of Pakistan as consequences of malnutrition cut the nations GDP by
up to 4%” said Mr. Dan Rohrmann, Country Representative UNICEF Pakistan. “Despite the economic development of the nation, we are
facing a silent crisis of malnutrition with indicators amongst the worst in the
world and no improvements in recent four decades regretted Mr. Rohrmann and
emphasized that if this issue is prioritized, malnutrition can be ended in a
life time of a generation.
The Development Partners for Nutrition (DPN) group is
involved in advocacy for considering nutrition as a priority at the national
development agenda, policy and strategy support and strengthen nutrition in
implementation shared Ms. Silvia Kaufmann, Chief Nutrition, UNICEF Pakistan.
The DPN is supporting the development of provincial nutrition guidance notes
and provincial inter-sectoral nutrition strategies she informed.
Mr. Aslam Shaheen, Chief Nutrition, Planning
Commission
of Pakistan lauded the efforts of Save the Children in launching the Lancet
Series in Pakistan and observed that recommendations highlighted in the lancet
paper will build into the Vision 2025 and government’s 5 year development plan.
He also informed the participants that the Government of Pakistan will formally
launch the National Nutrition
Survey 2011
in the coming few weeks.
The launch of the Lancet Series on Nutrition is timely and relevant for Pakistan as
recommendations could be used in the Integrated Provincial Nutrition Strategies
being prepared in all the four provinces through a consultative process. Save
the Children together with the DPN is committed to providing support to the
federal and provincial governments to have the strategies in place and
implemented. There is also a commitment for full support and cooperation to the
government for implementing the Scaling up Nutrition (SUN) initiatives
commitments in Pakistan. Together with the Development Partners for Nutrition
and the civil society of Pakistan we are committed to work for improving the
nutrition situation in Pakistan. However, for these initiatives to materialize
political will and leadership is needed by the government both at the federal and
provincial level.
The launch got excellent coverage from Pakistan’s
leading newspapers and on social media including facebook and twitter. There was great resolve and commitment among the stakeholders
to use the findings of the series in the ongoing efforts to improve the
nutrition situation in the country and put nutrition on the agenda of decision
makers, civil society and media and the national and provincial levels.
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