‘Mortality rate reduction a must to meet SDGs’

Islamabad: President Dr. Arif Alvi Thursday said that though Pakistan had brought down maternal mortality rate to 186 per 1,000 births, it was a must to reduce it further to 70 to meet Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by 2030.

”I think we must achieve this Sustainable Development Goal of 70 by the year 2030. We believe very strongly that if poverty in Pakistan has to be reduced, it is important that the health situation of the populace has also to be improved,” said the president while addressing a webinar on Pakistan Maternal Mortality Survey.

He said as per demographic survey of 2006-7, the country had 276 maternal mortality rate per 1000 births.

He said as the prime minister had long been working in the health sector since the establishment of Shaukat Khanum Hospital, availability of better healthcare for people always remained his main concern. Even, he said in his maiden speech after becoming prime minister, Imran Khan raised the issue of children’s stunted growth which could be better addressed through two-year breastfeeding and gap between pregnancies.

He said considering the growing size of the country’s population, it was essential to take care of children’s nutrition and maternal health. The president said through the Quran, Allah had also instructed for at least 24-months of breastfeeding which would address both the issues of stunted growth and maternal health.

He said he had also asked the companies manufacturing formula milk to market their products in a way to make it clear that it was never an alternate to the mother feed.

The president, who also chaired a task force on population repeatedly called for the gap between pregnancies for recovery of mother’s health and avert malnutrition in the children. He also mentioned his frequent interaction with religious scholars to promote breastfeeding and guide the people that gap between pregnancies was essential to protect mothers from various health complications.

The president believed that 90 percent of the oral and dental diseases were preventable, therefor the ore focus should be on prevention which could also avert burden on the health system.

The president said that the information technology systems geared up during the COVID-19 pandemic would help a long away to uplift the health sector in the future.

The president said the efficiency achieved in IT sector by Pakistan during the pandemic could otherwise have taken 10 years to reach the point. He said the IT would help promote the mechanisms like telehealth system and improve communication between the people and government particularly for awareness on prevention of disease through the measures like frequent hand wash.