Rising crisis: Malnutrition brews among children

BANNU: Social workers have expressed concerns over malnutrition in children living in Bannu—both local and those displaced from North Waziristan. While addressing the media on Sunday, chief of the non-profit Social Services Program, Shafiqur Rahman Yousafzai, said his organisation conducted a survey in four union councils of Bannu and screened 8,146 children, including 2,296 displaced children. The survey found 250 children were suffering from severe malnutrition, while 646 were suffering from mild malnutrition. “Around 65% of children suffering from severe malnutrition are being provided food, medicine and treatment with the help of World Health Organisation,” he said, adding urgent action is needed in the district to prevent a crisis.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 9^th, 2015.