Pakistan and its Poverty

 Health experts have expressed disappointment over the Pakistan government's failure to address the issue of malnutrition and children's stunted growth. Coronavirus, inflation and unemployment have exacerbated the situation.

Prime Minister Imran Khan vowed to deal with the issue of malnutrition after he came to power in August 2018 but many in Pakistan believe his government hasn't done much to improve the situation in the past two years.

According to the government's Demographic and Health Survey, the stunted growth in children under the age of 5 had decreased from 45% in 2012-2013 to 38% in 2017-2018. The 2018-19 National Nutrition Survey says that around 40% of children under the age of 5 are facing stunted growth.

"Pakistan is likely to see an increase in malnourishment in the next two years. The percentage of people living below the poverty line has increased from 26% to 32% in recent years, partly due to coronavirus and government's misplaced economic priorities," Amir Hussain, an Islamabad-based social expert, told DW, adding that 48% to 50% of the population is projected to face malnutrition in 2021.

 Karamat Ali, executive director of the Pakistan Institute of Labor Education and Research (PILER), said the government's figures on malnutrition and stunted growth couldn't be trusted.

"Out of Pakistan's total 68 million labor force, only a little over 1.5 million laborers have any social security. This means the rest don't receive any government assistance, such as unemployment allowance or medical treatment," Ali told DW. "Around 45% of this labor force are associated with the garment and textile industry, and around 90% of these sectors have either been shut or are seeing very little manufacturing activity. At the same time, the government is rapidly privatizing state-run enterprises, which has rendered thousands of people jobless," Ali said, adding that people's nutrition and health are bound to be affected by these economic policies. "We conducted a survey, which revealed that around 30% of respondents reduced their food intake as a result of rising food prices. There has been a sharp rise in food prices in the past few months. Medicines, among other things, have also become very expensive. All this has augmented malnutrition and stunted growth among children," he added.

 Said Alam Mehsud, a health expert and rights activist, told DW that Pakistan's "security state" model leaves very little money for social security or human development.

"We spend more on the military than on common citizens. If we really want to tackle the issue of malnutrition, we need to substantially reduce our defense budget and increase the health budget — from the current 2% to at least 10%. It is crucial to transform this country." 

Health expert Muhammad Ashraf Nizami says the government must include health experts and doctors in policymaking. "The government appoints bureaucrats to deal with health issues. They don't know anything about these things."