ISLAMABAD: Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Zafar Mirza on Friday said the government had prepared a comprehensive program valuing 538 billion rupees to deal with the issue of malnutrition and stunted growth.   

Chairing a meeting in Islamabad, Dr Zafar Mirza asked the provinces to give their recommendations by Nov 15 to give final shape to the nutrition programme.

He said approval of PC-1 for the program would be sought from Central Development Working Party by Nov 30 so that it could be launched from early next year. Dr Zafar Mirza said children were the future of Pakistan and without spending on their health, the national development targets could not be achieved.

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Pakistan has been ranked 94 on the Global Hunger Index 2019 with 20.3 per cent of its population undernourished. Pakistan ranks eight spots above India.

The index is based on four indicators: undernourishment, child wasting, child stunting, and child mortality.

The prevalence of wasting and stunting in children less than five years fell to 7.1 per cent and 37.6 per cent respectively. The mortality rate of under-five-year old also decreased to 7.5 per cent in 2019.

On the other hand, where Pakistan scored 28.5 on the overall index, India ranked 102 with a score of 30.3.