Child-mother mortality: Call for concerted efforts to address health issues

352,000 children die before reaching age of five.

ISLAMABAD: Participants of a workshop for media were of the unanimous view that Pakistan has been facing health emergency and called for coordinated efforts by media, civil society and the government to address health issues. 

They said Pakistan has the highest rate of first day newborn and still birth deaths in the world leading to deaths of 28,000 mothers every year.  They said health is not properly reported and given space in media, especially in electronic media.

Speakers including health and media professionals said 352,000 children die every year before reaching the age of five, quoting different reports.

They were speaking at a two-day workshop organised by Save the Children and Mishal Pakistan to discuss the media’s role in highlighting health issues.

Lack of information hampers the media in highlighting health issues, they said asking reporters to report health issues with consistency to influence policymakers as well as create awareness among the people.

They also said that effective immunization campaigns, improved nutrition to pregnant mothers and breastfeeding could help improve the overall health situation, which seems to be in total disarray at national, provincial and local levels after the 18th amendment.

Department of Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health, Health Service Academy Prof Dr Samina Nadeem Khalid emphasised the need for coordinated efforts by all stakeholders to highlight health issues and introducing reproductive and sexual health in the curriculum.

Chairperson Parliamentary Task Force on MDGs chairperson MNA Marriyum Aurangzeb said that multitude of issues ranging from the law and order situation, bureaucratic hurdles, social taboos were major hurdles in accessing the masses at the grass root level.

Senior journalist Mubashir Zaidi said that most of the health targets the government had committed under the MDGs were certain to be missed. He said that after failing to achieve the targets, the government has put them in “Vision 2025”.

He said that though the government had promised in its manifesto that four per cent budget will be diverted to the health sector but instead they have even failed to fully utilise the one per cent allocated budget.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 15^th, 2014.