Islamabad: A two day international conference titled Act For Nutrition: The Emergency We Can No Longer Ignore opened in Islamabad on Wednesday, bringing together policymakers, international development leaders, and health experts to confront Pakistan’s escalating nutrition crisis. Organised by a leading media company at the Serena Hotel, the summit highlighted that over four out of ten children under the age of five in Pakistan suffer from stunting a condition causing permanent physical and cognitive impairment.
Opening the proceedings, Group Chief Executive Officer Nazafreen Saigol Lakhani described the stunting crisis as a "national emergency" and a profound failure of collective priorities. She noted that malnutrition costs Pakistan upwards of 17 billion US dollars (13 billion pounds) annually in lost productivity and healthcare expenses, an economic drain larger than typical loans negotiated with the International Monetary Fund. Emphasising that nutrition cannot be solved by the Ministry of Health alone, Lakhani called for a coordinated multi-sectoral approach encompassing agriculture, clean water access, education, and social protection.
Federal Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Ahsan Iqbal conveyed Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif’s firm commitment to treating malnutrition as a top national development priority. Iqbal stressed that while physical infrastructure such as motorways and energy networks remains important, human resource development is the bedrock of national progress. Pointing out that 90 percent of a child’s brain develops by the age of five, the minister warned that failing to secure foundational health during early childhood severely weakens all subsequent public investments in education and economic growth.
