‘2.2m people facing malnutrition in Punjab’

LAHORE

Provincial Minister for Labour and Human Resource Raja Ashfaq Sarwer said that around 2.2 million people in Punjab particularly women and children were facing the problem of malnutrition and stunting.

Punjab government is bringing legislative reforms for mandatory fortification of staple foods as in the country approximately two to three percent of GDP is lost every year due to growing unskilled and economically unproductive population, resulting in impairment of cognitive development caused by micro-nutrient deficiencies.

He said this while addressing a seminar “Food Security and Nutrition; Strategic Review,”  organised by Punjab Planning and Development and United Nations Pakistan here on Thursday.

Planning and Development (P&D) Department Chairman Jehanzab Khan, Additional Chief Secretary Shamail Khawaja, parliamentarians Sardar Ramaish Singh Arora and Saira Iftikhar, World Food Programme Project Director William Affif, Internal Policy and Research Director for Internal Institute of Food Dr Steve Davis and others attended the seminar.

Raja Ashfaq Sarwer stressed the need to improve the access to nutritious food for each and every person as food fortification was globally recognised strategy to address deficiencies of micro-nutrition in the daily food to strive and thrive. He said, "We have high levels of malnutrition in the country since decades and this nutrition status is gradually getting worst."

The minister stressed the need to enhance the role of civil society, social protection sector, food and health departments, academia and government institutions along with every member of society to address this problem of malnutrition in vulnerable society.

He said that malnutrition was multi-sectorial problem and Punjab government had taken every step, including setting up SUN Secretariat in the P&D building for policy level strategic implementation and mechanism development.

The parliamentarians of Punjab are committed to ensuring the access of essential vitamins and minerals to the population through food fortification, changing the quality of people's lives and their children who would perform even better with improved cognitive development, he added.

Additional Chief Secretary Shamail Ahmad Khawaja who chaired the concluding session emphasised the need to provide clean drinking water and pure food to the people by the government at all levels. He stressed upon promoting breastfeeding among mothers and asked the people to adopt healthy lifestyle by preferring nutritious balanced food, avoiding overeating and making washing of hands and oral hygiene as their habit.

He also suggested sensitise the youngsters about nutritional value of various edibles and proposed establishment of a national food security committee on the lines of National Security Committee in the federal government.

Recommendations were also presented at the seminar to avoid use of fast food, fashion drugs and processed milk, including dried milk available in cans and packets with the claim that these so-called fortified products contained excessive nutritional value.

Contrary to this, a simple lifestyle and a habit of eating balanced diet preferably the boiled vegetables having natural vitamins and micro-nutrients must be promoted, it was said.

UN SPA-6 Programme Convener William Affif, Research Fellow Dr Stephen Davies and Punjab P&D Member Health Dr Shabana Haider also spoke.

Laptops: Virtual University of Pakistan had the first event to distribute a total of 2,500 laptops among students under the Prime Minister's Laptops Scheme.

According to a press release issued here Thursday, a formal ceremony was held at MA Jinnah Campus, Lahore to give away laptops to high achievers.

Dr Naveed A Malik, Rector Virtual University of Pakistan being the chief guest, distributed the laptops.

Emphasising the significance of laptop scheme to the audience, Dr Naveed A Malik said the use of computers would go a long way in acquiring the knowledge among the youth of the country promoting research culture in the country. He thanked the HEC and the federal government for provision of quality laptops to students. Senior faculty members and students were also present on the occasion.