Comment by Riaz Haq on March 27, 2019 at 10:55am

Millions of babies are starving in Pakistan despite an abundance of food in the country

https://www.scmp.com/news/asia/south-asia/article/3003040/millions-...


According to the International Food Policy Research Institute, a poverty and hunger watchdog, around one in five people in Pakistan are malnourished

And yet, the nation has no shortage of food – US Department of Agriculture data shows Pakistan is projected to export 500,000 tons of wheat from May 2018 until April 2019, and 7.4 million tons of rice in the same period

And yet, the nation has an abundance of food – in fact, according to the US Department of Agriculture, Pakistan is projected to export 500,000 tons of wheat from May 2018 until April 2019, and 7.4 million tons of rice in the same period.
Dawn, the English-language daily newspaper, even reported a potato glut earlier this month.
In Pakistan, women take desperate measures to stop having babies

The issues are socio-economic, experts said – just because goods are available does not mean people can access them.
“There are four key pillars of food security in Pakistan: the first is availability, then accessibility, utilisation and stability,” said Ambreen Fatima, senior research economist at the Applied Economic Research Centre of Karachi University.
In Tharparkar district, where Mithi Civil Hospital is located, all four are lacking, she said.

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“This is also linked to inadequate water and sanitation, education and health service delivery, which together with the lack of awareness of appropriate dietary intake contributes to greater food insecurity and malnutrition,” it said.
Tharparkar district is frequently highlighted in Pakistan’s media because of its high rate of child deaths, with politicians blaming the situation on drought – but economists and physicians said that was not the sole explanation.
“Causes of malnutrition are multiple pregnancies, young-aged marriage, iron deficiency in mothers, (lack) of breastfeeding, weak immunisation, and early weaning,” Kumar said.
Pakistan man accused of stabbing woman 23 times gets acquittal overturned
Bearing large numbers of children from a young age takes its toll on women’s health, but also impacts the well-being of the fetus and ability to breastfeed a newborn.
In Pakistan, only 38 per cent of babies are fed breast milk exclusively during their first six months in line with UN recommendations.
This low figure is blamed on local traditions, the heavy workloads of mothers and powerful marketing by the milk industry.
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Many mothers are told to feed their newborns tea, herbs, which can stunt growth. Some are unnecessarily persuaded to use formula instead of breast milk by doctors.
This can introduce health problems if the water use to make it is unclean, or if poor families scrimp on the amount of powder to create the drink.
Sindh’s high number of child deaths are the result of a vicious poverty cycle that begins with malnourished mothers, said Bengali. “An infant is not fed with wheat or solid food.”

Comment by Riaz Haq on March 29, 2019 at 10:09am

#ImranKhanPrimeMinister performs groundbreaking of #Balochistan #Health Complex, #Quetta-#Zhob Dual Carriageway as part of western alignment of #China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (#CPEC) and New #Gwadar International Airport. #Pakistan https://www.geo.tv/latest/232487-pm-performs-groundbreaking-of-balo...


The premier announced that a cancer institute will be made with the help of Pakistan Army and the provincial government. 

Speaking about the Quetta-Zhob Dual Carriageway, the premier said it was a difficult project. "The Quetta-Zhob Dual Carriageway will connect the province to other parts of the country," he said.

"We also needed to pay attention towards the western route," PM Imran said and added that the government wishes to make a railway track from Quetta to Taftan and Railways Minister Sheikh Rashid is making efforts in this regard.

"We need to make a master plan for Quetta," he urged while stating that Pakistani cities are expanding. "As cities expand, people will not be able to receive facilities and will face more difficulties."

PM Imran further said that under CPEC, the western route should have been made first.

The premier also stressed the need for a "strong local government system for Balochistan". "Till local government system is not improved, people's quality of life will not be improved. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, we improved the local government system owing to which we emerged successful there for a second time," he added,

"The country also faces water issues for which we are building a dam. We do not want to think about other elections but our country's progress," he asserted. "If Balochistan is focused on then the whole country will progress," he stated.

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Gwadar airport, uplift schemes for city
Prime Minister Imran Khan also launched work on New Gwadar International Airport and announced various other development schemes for the city, what he believed would become an engine of growth for Pakistan.

“What a pleasure it is to be in Gwadar. In sha Allah, in coming months, years, Gwadar would be, I see, as engine of growth for Pakistan,” he said addressing the ground breaking ceremony of the airport.

The event was attended by federal ministers, Balochistan chief minister, parliamentarians, Chief of Army Staff General Qamar Javed Bajwa and Chinese Ambassador to Pakistan Yao Jing, besides huge number of Chinese workers and government officials.

The airport was included among Early Harvest High Priority Project of the CPEC in January 2014. The Chinese government would assist Pakistan in construction of the airport under Chinese Grant Assistance.

The project is part of overall infrastructure development of Balochistan.

It would be developed as a green-field facility with all modern facilities for safe operation.

The new Gwadar airport would be able to accommodate large aircraft such as Airbus A380. It would comprise a modern terminal building with cargo terminal having initial handling capacity of 30,000 tons per year.

On this occasion, a memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed for construction of Pakistan and China Vocational Training Institute and Pak-China Friendship Hospital.

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Khan said it was pleasing that the capacity of the hospital in Gwadar would be enhanced and a vocational training institute would also help create employment opportunities.

He announced to launch Insaf Sehat Card to provide health insurance cover worth Rs720,000 to every family.

The premier said previously power was being transmitted from Iran, but now the government had decided to link the area with national grid.

A desalination plant would also be set up in the city and under Clean and Green Pakistan, one million saplings would be planted. Besides, a solid waste management system would also be established to protect the area from pollution, he said.

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 6, 2019 at 10:40pm

#Pakistan to fortify #wheat flour to deal with micronutrient deficiencies that can lead to poor child growth, anemia and many other health issues. #health #vitamins #minerals #nutrition https://www.world-grain.com/articles/12017-flour-fortification-pilo...

The National Fortification Alliance of Pakistan (NFA) is partnering with the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) and the government of Australia to launch a pilot project to fight malnutrition by fortifying wheat flour in Islamabad and Rawalpindi.

As part of the partnership, the WFP will provide technical support and the government of Australia will provide funding for the project, which is focused on providing support to chakkis (small-scale grinders) to mill flour that is rich in micronutrients.

“Given the extent of the consumption of wheat from chakkis, this project will provide a firm basis to reach nutritionally vulnerable populations and provide them with essential nutrients, which is another step WFP is taking to curb malnutrition in Pakistan,” said Finbarr Curran, WFP Country Representative.

According to the WFP, almost half of Pakistan’s population suffers from micronutrient deficiencies that can lead to poor child growth, anemia and many other health issues. Reducing these deficiencies is a high priority for the government of Pakistan, the WFP noted.

The agency noted that Pakistan already has taken steps to fortify wheat flour produced by large-scale mills, and over the next five years the goal is fortify wheat flour produced at all the country’s industrial wheat flour mills.

To achieve the goal, though, the WFP said it must support the output of chakkis. The agency said chakkis produce wheat flour for nearly 70% of the population, and most of these families are the poorest of the poor. This project targets the most vulnerable populations and fulfills the urgent need to assimilate chakkis within a broader national fortification effort.

The pilot project is expected to provide the government with evidence about the potential for the chakki fortification program to prevent micronutrient deficiencies and malnutrition, particularly among the poorest populations. 

Comment by Riaz Haq on May 16, 2019 at 7:20pm

Pakistan’s PK: School Enrollment: Primary: % Gross data was reported at 97.710 % in Dec 2016. This records an increase from the previous number of 92.409 % for Dec 2015. Pakistan’s PK: School Enrollment: Primary: % Gross data is updated yearly, averaging 58.128 % from Dec 1971 to 2016, with 37 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 97.710 % in 2016 and a record low of 49.022 % in 1972. Pakistan’s PK: School Enrollment: Primary: % Gross data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Pakistan – Table PK.World Bank.WDI: Education Statistics. Gross enrollment ratio is the ratio of total enrollment, regardless of age, to the population of the age group that officially corresponds to the level of education shown. Primary education provides children with basic reading, writing, and mathematics skills along with an elementary understanding of such subjects as history, geography, natural science, social science, art, and music.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

https://www.ceicdata.com/en/pakistan/education-statistics/pk-school...

Comment by Riaz Haq on June 29, 2019 at 7:28pm

Every third child is underweight in Pakistan: survey

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1989494/1-every-third-child-underweigh...

The National Nutrition Survey 2018-19 has painted a bleak picture of children’s health, stating that “every third child” in the country “is underweight”.

The survey was released on Monday during a ceremony chaired by Adviser to the Prime Minister on Health Dr Zafar Mirza and attended by Health Secretary Zahid Saeed, National AIDS Control Programme Manager Dr Basir Achakzai, Unicef representative and others.

The survey was compiled by experts working under the auspices of the Ministry of Health and Unicef.

The report stated, “Breast-feeding has increased in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), while malnutrition in Balochistan and erstwhile Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata).”

It stated, “Every four out of 10 children are malnourished. Over 40% children are affected by malnutrition in which the number of girls is higher than that of boys.”

Giving the break-up of the malnourished children, the report stated, “In the country, 40.9% boys are malnourished, while 39.4% girls are victims of malnutrition and 28% are underweight.

“Over 9% children are overweight. During the last seven years, the number of overweight children has doubled as in 2011 only 5% children were overweight while now the ratio stands at 9.5%. About 50% girls in Pakistan suffer from anemia while 48.4 % children are given mother’s milk. The ratio of children being fed mother’s milk stands at over 60% in K-P.

“In Pakistan, 36.9% of the population face malnutrition. In Balochistan, 50% people are malnourished while in erstwhile Fata the ratio is 54.6%.”

Addressing the ceremony, Health Adviser Dr Zafar Mirza said, “In line with the vision of Prime Minister Imran Khan, the Ministry of Health is taking drastic measures to overcome malnutrition.”
Mirza said, “The data obtained from the survey will help in policy making and devising strategies.”

He said they would join hands with the provinces in taking effective steps in the field of nutrition in light of the data obtained.

“The incumbent government has already decided to tackle the biggest issue – undernourishment, especially in women and children,” said the PM’s aide, adding that the national survey had revealed that 40% children under the age of five were victims of stunting.

Mirza acknowledged the fact that positive signs regarding more women feeding their milk to their newborns were received. “About 10% improvement has been recorded in mothers feeding their children their own milk.”

Mirza said, “The ratio of people consuming clean water has increased, whereas only 21% water has been found fit for consumption.”
He said information and steps regarding women giving birth had improved. “About 63% women come to clinics when they are pregnant, while 68% avail the expertise of experts, which has reduced the ratio of death among newborns,” said Mirza.

About anemia, Mirza said, “Several women and children suffer from this condition. It has been reported that over 50% children suffer from anemia, while 62% lack Vitamin A.”

He said that there had been an increase in the consumption of iodine salt, which “is a positive sign”.

https://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/National%...

Comment by Riaz Haq on April 3, 2020 at 11:07am

Can Pakistan's 88% BCG vaccination rate against tuberculosis (TB) help reduce the impact of coronavirus? A New York Institute of Technology study using data from 178 countries has concluded that both the incidence and mortality of COVID-19 are significantly lower in countries with BCG vaccination programs against TB. Will this study help prove Dawn News' alarming forecast of over 2 million
confirmed cases by June 1 and 20 million actual infections wrong?


Scientists have speculated that BCG vaccine may boost the innate immune system not just against TB but also against a variety of other pathogens from invading the body or from establishing an infection. Here are some of the key findings of the study summarized below:

1. Countries that do not have a BCG vaccination policy against TB have seen 10X greater incidence and deaths from Covid-19 than the countries that do, according to a study of data from 178 countries by New York Institute of Technology researchers.

2. BCG, or Bacillus Calmette-Guérin, is a vaccine for tuberculosis (TB). It is administered at birth in many developing countries that have historically suffered from the disease, such as India and Pakistan. Most of the developed nations, including US, Italy and the Netherlands do not have universal TB vaccination programs. Japan is among the few developed OECD nations that still do. The East Asian nation had some of the earlier cases, but the mortality is low despite not having adopted some the more stringent social distancing rules.

3. The study looked at Covid-19 instances and mortality for 15 days between March 9 and 24 in 178 countries and concluded that incidence of Covid-19 was 38.4 per million in countries with BCG vaccination compared to 358.4 per million in the absence of such a program.

4. The death rate was 4.28 per million in countries with BCG programs compared to 40 per million in countries without such a program. Out of the 178 countries studied, 21 had no vaccination program, while the status was unclear in 26 countries. The latter group was treated as not having a policy for the purpose of this study.

http://www.riazhaq.com/2020/04/can-pakistans-tb-vaccination-program...

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