Pakistan critically short of supplementary food for acute child malnutrition: Unicef

Islamabad:The United Nations Children's Fund has warned that Pakistan is facing a critical shortage of life-saving ready-to-use-therapeutic-food (RUTF) to treat severe wasting, also known as severe acute malnutrition, in children under five years of age.

"Funding shortages for RUTF are leaving nearly two million children at risk of not receiving treatment in the 12 hardest-hit countries. Mali, Nigeria, Niger, and Chad are either already experiencing or imminently facing stock-outs of RUTF, while Pakistan, Cameroon, Sudan, Madagascar, South Sudan, Kenya, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Uganda could run out of stock by mid-2025," said the Unicef in a news release on World Food Day.

The UN agency revealed that as of August 2024, only 262,000 severely wasted children in Pakistan (one third of those in need) had received lifesaving RUTF treatment. It added that the current supply of RUTF in Pakistan was projected to end in March 2025, threatening ongoing treatment efforts.

“The urgency of replenishing RUTF stocks cannot be overstated, as it is vital for the survival and recovery of severely malnourished children. Immediate action and sustained support are imperative to address this crisis effectively,” said Unicef Representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil.

He said ensuring a steady supply of RUTF and enhancing prevention and treatment programmes in high-risk areas would be crucial to mitigate the impact of severe wasting, save lives and safeguard the health and future of Pakistan’s youngest and most vulnerable population.

Mr Fadil said Unicef was calling for $11.9 million to address the immediate funding shortfall to procure 300,000 cartons of RUTF in Pakistan as part of this global appeal. He said his organisation was calling for $165 million in a renewed No Time to Waste 2024 Update and Call to Urgent Action, to fund therapeutic feeding, treatment and care for the two million children at-risk of death due to critical shortages of RUTF.

According to Unicef, nearly two million children suffering from severe wasting worldwide were at risk of death due to funding shortages for RUTF to treat wasting. It added that levels of severe wasting in children under five years remained gravely high in several countries, fueled by conflict, economic shocks and climate crises.

Unicef Director of Child Nutrition and Development Victor Aguayo said in the last two years, an unprecedented global response had allowed the scale-up of nutrition programmes to contain child wasting and its associated mortality in countries severely affected by conflict, climate and economic shocks, and the resulting maternal and child nutrition crisis. “Urgent action is needed now to save the lives of nearly two million children who are fighting this silent killer,” he said. Mr Aguayo said as a Unicef-led multi-partner financing mechanism, one of the goals of the CNF was to support local and regional production of first foods – fortified foods, food supplements and RUTF for young children – in areas experiencing high levels of child malnutrition, to circumvent global supply chain disruptions, reduce environmental impacts of shipment, and boost job opportunities and economic growth within communities.

He added that once fully implemented, the Child Nutrition Fund would help insulate countries from the funding shortages and fluctuations in demand currently driving part of the growing RUTF shortages.