Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: A round table consultation session was held here at a local hotel to discuss the role of the media in addressing malnutrition. A considerable number of journalists belonging to the print and the electronic media highlighted their viewpoint related to malnutrition.

The session was organised by SUN Civil Society Alliance Pakistan (SUNCSA, Pak) in-collaboration with Micronutrient Initiative (MI). It was aimed to engage media persons in highlighting impacts of malnutrition by increasing the understanding and knowledge of the journalists on the issue of nutrition and food insecurity.

Pakistan has an alarmingly high level of malnutrition; 24 per cent of the population is undernourished. The most recent estimates by the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) state that 37.5 million people in Pakistan are not receiving proper nourishment, Daily Times has learnt.

Dr. Irshad Danish, Coordinator SUNSCA, Pak welcomed the participants and shared the objectives of the consultation. He said SUNCSA, Pak was a coalition of 119 civil society organisations working with a mission of creating a strong, coordinated and vibrant civil society constituency, to foster multi-sectoral developmental approaches to support the nutrition agenda.

Generally, the participants were of the view that malnutrition in Pakistan was usually associated with poverty and the main causative factors include low consumption of food and foods with low nutritional value.

The organisers stressed to convince the participating journalists to create awareness among masses through their input while the journalists also expressed their commitment to take up the issue of malnutrition from the platform of their media houses/organizations through media reports, articles and other contributions.

Dr Naseer Nizamani, Country Director Micronutrient Initiative Pakistan and General Secretary of Scaling up Nutrition, Civil Society Alliance (SUNCSA, Pak) shared the overall situation of malnutrition in Pakistan. He said, Pakistan was facing a malnutrition crisis that was amongst the worst in the world and had not improved for decades. This needed to be urgently addressed in order to safeguard the country’s future development and prosperity.

It’s a simple fact that nearly half of all the children in Pakistan are malnourished, and this undermines their mental and physical growth, as well as the country’s prospects.

The resource person of the session said that the direct outcome of high rates of malnutrition in women is seen in the form of long lasting adverse effects reflected by high maternal mortality and morbidity and its perpetuating effects on infant and child growth and development.

He emphasized: “We all know what needs to be done but now it’s about generating the political will to do that. We require a repeated call to action and pressure from the civil society particularly the media to help tackle the issue and if prioritised malnutrition can be ended.” The dire situation of child nutrition in Pakistan is not something that has not been reported before. It has been validated from time to time by various reports published by many reputable organisations, both here at home and abroad. The participants of the meeting urged the Government of Pakistan to allocate a budget to fulfil its commitments for improving nutrition in the country.

They also demanded necessary steps for implementation of breastfeeding laws, pure food laws and promulgation of necessary legislations for Wheat Flour Fortification with iron & amp; folic acid, coupled with Vitamin A & D fortification of Oil & Ghee.

It was also conceived that in addition to media persons, the other segments of the society i.e. clerics, school teachers and mothers could also prove to be helpful in creating awareness on the issue.