Plan to fulfil nutritional needs of children: minister

LAHORE:The Punjab government is using possible resources to pay full attention to health and fertility of mother and child, said Health Ministers Khawaja Imran Nazir.

Health Ministers Khawaja Imran Nazir and Khawaja Salman Rafiq chaired first meeting of Punjab Nutrition Board. In the meeting, the members of the Nutrition Board briefed them on their various suggestions to fulfill needs of nutrition in children. Health Minister Khawaja Imran Nazir said that the chief minister has instructed to end lack of micronutrients in children.

A comprehensive action plan will be executed. Despite Punjab being the largest food producer, children suffer from underweight and stunted growth. To address the root causes of under-nutrition, maternal and child health should be prioritised, the minister said and added the media, corporate sector, food experts and other stakeholders will be consulted to deal with the challenges like obesity.

Khawaja Imran Nazir said the Punjab government is using possible resources to pay full attention to the health and fertility of the mother and child. The meeting of the Punjab Nutrition Board will be held regularly every month. The child nutrition will be made part of the curriculum, the minister said and added that nutrition commodities worth crores of rupees are available at nutrition centres.

The health minister said that according to the vision of the chief minister, the recommendations of the Punjab Nutrition Board will be fully implemented. On this occasion, Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique said the Punjab Nutrition Programme was officially launched in 2017 during PMLN tenure.

In Punjab, the services of lady health workers will be employed for the screening of children's nutrition. He said that the assessment of children will be done by preparing a micro plan and effective work can be done on the development of children.

Secretary Health Ali Jan Khan said ample resources will be provided for the nutrition programme. Technical committees will be formed under the Punjab Nutrition Board which will present their recommendations and suggestions to the board, he said.