Unicef has a harsh message for the Pakistani state; and with good reason. This country is the most dangerous place for newborns. Of every 1,000 babies born — 46 die within the first month of their lives. Or put another way: 1 in 22. If these hard statistics do not provide a wake-up call for all political parties across the board, we do not know what will.
To be sure, the UN children’s fund was not unfairly singling out Pakistan. Indeed, its report — Every Child Alive: the urgent need to end newborn deaths that was published this week — paints a stark global picture. A staggering 2.6 million babies die every year before they turn one-month old. Another 1 million don’t make it even a full 24 hours; and 2.6 million are stillborn. And the worst part is that 80 percent of these deaths are preventable if only mothers had access to, among other things, adequate healthcare as well as family planning and education. So, no. Unicef is not taking Pakistan alone to task. But we will.
Number two on the list of riskiest nations for newborns is Afghanistan; a country that has known warfare at the hands of foreign powers for close to four decades. And while we maintain that security it is the responsibility of the occupying force — we need to perhaps expand our definition of this to go beyond keeping the citizenry safe from militant attacks. For the two are deeply intertwined; with the most vulnerable being hit even when they are not intentionally targeted. Thus Afghanistan has ‘good’ reason for its fragile status. But what excuse does Pakistan have? We are not a nation under occupation. Neither are we technically at war with anyone. Indeed, these were all points pushed by Gen (rtd) Pervez Musharraf against the Obama administration’s initial plan to link Islamabad and Kabul under the then proposed Pak-Af banner; on the grounds that we were the cancer eating away at the latter. But the good general ultimately got his way after stressing that this would have been one humiliation too many for a nuclear-armed country that is also home to a functioning parliamentary democracy.
But we have to ask: what good are these bad boy weapons of mass destruction if we can’t fulfil the fundamental right to life? Just as we feel compelled to know the merit in having a democratic set-up whereby the Centre feels able to constitutionally leave the provinces to their own devices. That this damning report comes just ahead of the summer general elections doesn’t mean that it is too late for our politicians to be taken to task. Yes, we understand that corruption is an important issue. For the simple reason that every rupee looted has a real opportunity cost for the well-being of the citizenry. And unless we invest in maternal health the rest can and will eventually fall by the wayside.
Thus we urge Parliament, the Supreme Court, civil society, the media, everyone and anyone to ensure that the issue of newborn mortality is not forgotten in the heat of electioneering. For infrastructure projects alone are worth nothing. It’s people we have to invest in. And this must begin with mothers. *
Published in Daily Times, February 21st 2018.