Pakistan govt. all set to launch Rs500 billion nutrition plan

Pakistan is set to launch Rs500 billion program to tackle the consequences of the country’s high burden of stunting and childhood nutrition.

“We develop the largest public sector project in Pakistan’s history focused on human nutrition,” Special Advisor to the PM on Health Dr. Zafar Mirza said.

Dr. Zafar Mirza addressed an event in Islamabad regarding the Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) initiative.

The event, ‘The Health and Health Related SDGs: Current Status and Opportunities in Pakistan’, jointly organized by the Ministry of National Health Services.

Aga Khan University, Aga Khan Foundation-Canada, the University of Toronto, and Canada’s International Development Research Centre also included.

However, it was the third meeting of policymakers and development experts.

The meeting seeks to develop integrated, comprehensive plans to help Pakistan meet its development priorities.

Dr. Mirza said the project will use inter-sectoral collaborations to implement the 12 most proven nutrition interventions.

Moreover, he urged the experts from academics and researchers, to join hands to overcome the country’s development challenges.

Dr. Mirza further stated that policies focused on tackling the threat of climate change was another priority area for the government.

“Climate change represents a threat to our health, agriculture and human survival,” he remarked.

Pakistan has committed to achieve 169 SDG targets by 2030 that cut across interdependent policy areas.

The areas include healthcare, nutrition, education, poverty, gender equality and others.

The one-day event also included sessions that saw over 100 experts from a variety of industries break into working groups to prepare policy recommendations for the health ministry to pursue.