UNAIDS Regional Director for Asia and the Pacific, Eamonn Murphy reiterated UNAIDS’ commitment to supporting provincial and federal authorities to respond to the HIV outbreak and strengthen the HIV response in the country. He expressed these views during a press briefing in Karachi during his official visit to Pakistan. The preliminary findings was presented during [...]
Four in ten under five children are stunted according to the new National Nutrition Survey (NNS), published by the Government of Pakistan today. The survey shows a 4 per cent decrease since the last survey conducted in 2011, and that nearly two out of every ten children under five also suffer from wasting. The survey [...]
A 7-day Anti-polio campaign Anti-polio campaign began in various parts of the Karachi. The campaign was inaugurated by Commissioner Karachi, Iftikhar Shallwani, who is also head of the taskforce formed by the Sindh government on polio eradication, will inaugurate the campaign. The campaign covered 105 union councils in the city. During the campaign 7,000 polio [...]
To review the progress on Nutrition focused programme interventions and their outcomes in Sindh, Provincial Task Force Secretariat for Nutrition, Planning and Development Board (GoS), organized a Round Table Conference in collaboration with Accelerated Action Plan (AAP) for Reduction in Stunting and Malnutrition (P&DD), USAID, UNICEF and World Food Programme recently at a local hotel [...]
Each day over 600 newborns die in Pakistan due to complications related to Birth Asphyxia, Prematurity and Sepsis says the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). Every year,15 million babies in the world are born prematurely and nearly 1 million die due to related complications. This makes preterm birth one of the leading cause of child deaths under [...]
Sindh Health Department is establishing as many as fifty dispensaries in drought hit area of Thar for safe delivery of the children and they will work round the clock to facilitate the area people, if there are complicated cases they will be referred to District Level Hospitals. This was stated by Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, [...]
More than 32 million children will be immunised against measles, an exceptionally contagious and deadly virus, in two weeks. The United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the World Health Organisation (WHO) joined the Government of Pakistan in kick-starting a nationwide measles campaign to vaccinate more than 32 million children – one-sixth of the population. During the two [...]
Federal Minister of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination, Aamer Mehmood Kiani stressed upon the need of strengthening EPI program as the most cost effective preventive health measure. He expressed these views while addressing a Meeting on EPI Program. The meeting was attended by Additional Secretary Health, Iqbal Durrani, National Program Manager EPI, Dr. Syed [...]
Breastfeeding within an hour after birth is critical for saving newborn lives An estimated, 78 million babies – or three in five – are not breastfed within the first hour of life, putting them at higher risk of death and disease and making them less likely to continue breastfeeding, say UNICEF and WHO in a [...]
Good, appropriate and balanced nutrition is essential for the health of mothers and growth of children. Breastfeeding, in particular, is a critical component of child health and essential to achieving the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number two (Zero Hunger) and number three (Good Health and Wellbeing) to which Pakistan is a signatory. The first gift [...]
By Aida Girma Breastfeeding is one of the most important public health interventions that we know of. It’s perfect; entirely natural, 100% nutritionally balanced and completely cost effective. Commemorating the World Breastfeeding Week, we have some achievements to celebrate and some challenges to collectively address. First, let me offer my congratulations to Pakistan for its [...]
Nutrition Support Program (NSP) Govt. of Sindh in collaboration with UNICEF organized an Advocacy Seminar on ‘Promotion and Protection of Breastfeeding’ on 8th August 2018 at a local hotel in Karachi aimed to raise awareness on the importance of breastfeeding. Dr. Ismail Memon, Program Manager, Nutrition Support Program (NSP) in his welcome address appraised the [...]
Sindh Caretaker Minister for Health, Education and Population Welfare Sindh, Dr. Saadia Rizvi said that the rate of breastfeeding was only around 37% in Sindh and that was one of the main reasons why children were suffering from diarrhea and other childhood diseases in the province. She expressed these views at the Breastfeeding Promoters Initiative [...]
Dr. Rana Muhammad Safdar, Coordinator National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) for Polio Eradication has said that during the last four years, Pakistan has witnessed 97 percent reduction in the reported polio cases, as the number of cases fell from 306 to 8 in the year 2017. He was addressing a meeting of National Emergency Operations [...]
Pregnant and breastfeeding women need better nutrition to protect children from stunting and disease. The progress on improving nutritional care of women in South Asia during and after pregnancy is slow, impacting on their children’s survival, growth and development. A three-day regional conference on actions to accelerate improvements in women’s nutrition across South Asia is [...]
