September 3, 2026
By Hashir Ahsan
ISLAMABAD
A two day conference on nutrition, has highlighted a grim reality: around 40 percent of children under the age of five in Pakistan is facing an economic loss of at least 17 billion dollars every year.
The two-day international conference titled ‘Act for Nutrition: The Emergency We Can No Longer Ignore‘, was held in Islamabad, where experts, government representatives, and international delegates emphasized that food and nutritional security should be recognized as a fundamental human right in the Constitution of Pakistan.
Policymakers, health professionals, and global nutrition experts attended the conference to find solutions to the country’s growing severe crisis of stunting and malnutrition in children, and to ensure joint actions on an emergency basis.
Malntrition: Not a lack of food
Anita Hirsch, World Food Program (WFP) Country Director, said during the conference that malnutrition was not merely a lack of food, but is linked to health, education, women’s empowerment, and behavioral change. She said that the first 1,000 days of a child’s life and the period of adolescence are extremely sensitive for their physical and mental development.
Hirsch appreciated the Benazir Nashonuma Program (BNP), saying that the initiative had proven that nutrition programs can be integrated into the mainstream of national social protection.
In his closing remarks, Dr Dapeng Luo, representative of the World Health Organization (WHO) said that malnutrition was the biggest obstacle in the path of health and national development. He emphasized that sustainable and concrete legislation to tackle this issue is an urgent need of the time.
Food security must be made a constitutional right
Dr. Irshad Danish, Chairman of the Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Movement, appealed to the government to include food security and food supply as fundamental rights in the Constitution. He said that malnutrition should be immediately declared a ‘national emergency’, and recommended appointing permanent nutrition coordinators and focal persons at the federal and provincial levels to improve inter-sectoral coordination.
Public awareness
Federal Minister for Information and Broadcasting Attaullah Tarar, while addressing the conference, said that malnutrition is not just a health issue, but a moral, economic, and national challenge.
He said that it was not right that the entire burden of responsibility for child nutrition be placed solely on mothers; “Fathers and other family members must also play their role,” he said. “Merely saying that malnutrition is a serious issue is not enough; practical and impactful messages must be disseminated for public awareness, acting upon which ordinary families can improve their children’s health.”
Renowned actress Sarwat Gillani was also present at the conference. She said that malnutrition was not a disease but the result of various socio-economic factors. She emphasized the need to bring positive changes in public behavior through ‘intelligence marketing’ and modern media campaigns.
Chairman of Eveready Pictures, Satish Anand, stressed the effective use of radio and PTV to deliver information to rural areas, while senior journalist Zarrar Khuhro expressed regret that discussion in the media on a “silent crisis” like malnutrition is extremely limited, even though change is not possible until awareness is created at the family level.
Clean water, sanitation, and disease prevention
During the panel discussion, WaterAid Country Director Mian Muhammad Junaid and World Bank Senior Water Specialist Basharat Saeed stated that contaminated water and an unhygienic sanitation system are major causes of malnutrition in children.Mian Muhammad Junaid said, “If a child repeatedly falls ill due to drinking contaminated water, their growth will be affected despite the best food and medicines.” He demanded that the WASH sector and the health sector adopt a joint strategy instead of working separately.
Oliver Cumming, an expert from the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine, said that while 100 percent provision of clean water overnight is not possible, if investments are made in the right direction for the coming decade, this target can be achieved.
Provincial measures and population control
During the session, Punjab Government Special Secretary Aurangzeb Haider Khan informed the audience that Punjab has already started reducing the stunting rate in children dropping down from 36 percent in 2018 to 27 percent; even then 5.5 million children are still affected.
He recommended creating uniform data indicators among provinces and said that birth spacing must be made part of the nutrition agenda.
In a video message, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Sohail Afridi, said that special facility centers are being established in the province for pregnant women and newborns.
Dr. Shabana Haider, Member of the Planning Commission of Pakistan, and Dr. Ali Mir of the Population Council warned that Pakistan’s rapidly growing population at an annual rate of 2.55 percent and the lack of resources pose a major challenge. If population ratios are not taken into account, all food security measures will come under pressure.
Financial Advisor Adnan Pasha Siddiqui suggested that in fiscal policy, nutrition should not be viewed merely as a “health expense” but as a “capital investment,” because a single rupee spent on nutrition today will lead to an increase in the country’s GDP in the future.
At the conclusion of the conference, all participants, provincial representatives, and international organizations agreed that under the ‘Pakistan Nutrition Pact,’ all departments must unite to take practical steps to save future generations from the tragedy of malnutrition.