ISLAMABAD, Sep 02 (APP):The policymakers, development leaders, health professionals and nutrition experts on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated and measurable action to address the malnutrition and child-stunting crisis. Dawn Media’s two-day international conference, “Act For Nutrition: The Emergency We Can No Longer Ignore,” kicked off at a local hotel in Islamabad. The discussions focused on moving the national debate beyond statistics towards practical interventions covering health, agriculture, water and sanitation, …
Experts call for urgent, measurable action to address malnutrition, child-stunting crisis
ISLAMABAD, Sep 02 (APP):The policymakers, development leaders, health professionals and nutrition experts on Wednesday called for urgent, coordinated and measurable action to address the malnutrition and child-stunting crisis.
Dawn Media’s two-day international conference, “Act For Nutrition: The Emergency We Can No Longer Ignore,” kicked off at a local hotel in Islamabad.
The discussions focused on moving the national debate beyond statistics towards practical interventions covering health, agriculture, water and sanitation, education, social protection and economic policy.
Opening the conference, Dawn CEO Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani said nutrition required a whole-of-government and multisectoral approach, with interventions tailored to Pakistan’s diverse local realities.
Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, who was the chief guest, conveyed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s commitment to making malnutrition a national development priority. Highlighting the importance of early childhood development, he noted that around 90 per cent of a child’s brain develops by the age of five and said, “Investment in nutrition is not charity, it is economic policy.”
In recorded remarks, World Health Organisation Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said malnutrition remained among the greatest barriers to health, development and opportunity.
World Bank Lead Nutrition Specialist Abigail Perry stressed that Pakistan needed to respond at the required scale, speed and quality, while United Nations Resident Coordinator in Pakistan Pernille Ironside called for placing communities and frontline workers at the centre of interventions and integrating nutrition into disaster preparedness and shock-responsive systems.
During the session on “Global and Regional Realities”, University of Reading Associate Professor Dr Giacomo Zanello called for food, health and social-protection systems to be integrated before crises occurred, saying such coordination could not be improvised during emergencies.
World Food Programme Asia-Pacific Regional Nutrition Adviser Nora Hobbs said more than 80 per cent of stunted children lived in middle-income countries.
Aga Khan Foundation Global Lead for Health and Nutrition Dr Aminah Jahangir said better outcomes could be achieved when health services, food systems and community institutions worked around the same households.
Scaling Up Nutrition Movement Asia Regional Representative Dr Srikanth Eadara estimated that malnutrition cost countries in Asia and Africa between five and 11 per cent of GDP and warned that funding cuts could undermine earlier gains.
During the discussion on South and Southeast Asia’s current realities, Sri Lanka Institute of Health Policy Executive Director Dr Ravi Rannan-Eliya attributed Sri Lanka’s improved health outcomes to voter-driven expansion of free education and healthcare and called for further research into regional child-growth patterns.
Global Nutrition Report Stakeholder Group Co-chair Dr Irshad Danish highlighted Pakistan’s Lady Health Workers Programme as an effective community-based model. He called for strategic investment, transparent budgeting and stronger implementation.
The session on “Integrating Nutrition into Social Protection Systems: Lessons, Partnerships” examined ways to incorporate nutrition into social protection and primary healthcare systems.
Benazir Income Support Programme Chairperson Senator Rubina Khalid said social protection should go beyond financial assistance and help vulnerable families move towards dignity. She urged stakeholders to ensure that every child had the opportunity to grow, learn and fulfil their potential.
BISP Director General Dr Asim Ijaz said the Benazir Nashonuma Programme had incorporated nutrition and health support into BISP’s existing registry. He said the programme focused on the critical first 1,000 days of life and had been integrated into existing platforms.
WFP Deputy Country Director Thomas Conan said nutrition-sensitive social protection should address access to healthy diets, healthcare, safe water and sanitation.
WHO Pakistan Deputy Representative Ellen Thom called for stronger links between social protection and primary healthcare, while GIZ Pakistan Adviser Dr Faiza Wahab urged policymakers to address the “missing adolescent middle” by improving nutrition among adolescent girls.
The “Investing in Nutrition” session highlighted the economic cost of under nutrition and the need for greater public and private investment.
Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition Executive Director Lawrence Haddad said malnutrition remained severely underfunded despite its far-reaching consequences, receiving less than one per cent of international aid.
Gates Foundation Senior Programme Officer Dr Ammar Malik described the nutrition crisis as a “balance sheet problem”. Citing World Bank estimates, he said every dollar invested in nutrition could generate up to $23 in economic benefits.
Planning Ministry Chief of Nutrition Dr Nazeer Ahmed said provincial policies and strategies had not translated into multisectoral programmes on the ground.
PIDE Dean of Research Dr Shujaat Farooq termed nutrition an essential component of human capital, while Asian Development Bank Senior Project Officer Mansoor Ali Masood outlined the bank’s support for integrating nutrition into social protection, education, agriculture and water, sanitation and hygiene services.
The discussion on mobilising private capital and partnerships also stressed the role of businesses and markets in improving nutrition. English Biscuit Manufacturers’ Attiyah Inaam Khan shared results from an initiative providing fortified biscuits to mothers and called for tax incentives to support food fortification.
Workforce Nutrition Project Manager GM Reza Sumon said workplace nutrition interventions in Bangladesh had helped reduce anaemia and absenteeism.
Tetra Pak Corporate Affairs Director Noor Aftab urged reforms in food-safety laws and taxation, while agriculture consultant Hasan Khurrum Hanif said farmers needed viable demand and market incentives to produce nutrient-dense food.
The final session of the day, “The First 1,000 Days: Why Women and Girls Matter for Nutrition”, focused on the nutritional needs of women and girls from pregnancy through a child’s second birthday.
The first day concluded with a broad consensus among participants that Pakistan’s nutrition crisis required sustained investment, stronger coordination among institutions, community-level interventions and greater accountability in implementation.
