Training workshop: Malnutrition greater curb on economy than power crisis

Mandatory fortification of wheat flour ‘by Sept 2015’.

LAHORE:

Fortification of wheat flour with iron and folic acid will be made mandatory in the Punjab under a recently proposed amendment, member provincial assembly Dr Alia Aftab said on Monday.

She was speaking on the opening day of a two-day technical workshop arranged to enhance the capacity building of regional laboratories in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The participants of the workshop included development practitioners, policy makers and business representatives from Pakistan and Afghanistan. Aftab said she hoped that the amendment could be enacted and enforced across the province by September 2015.

Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) Project Manager Munawar Hussain said the country was losing three percent of its gross domestic product every year because of the effects of malnutrition. “This is higher than the two percent annual loss in GDP attributed to the ongoing energy crisis,” he added.



Hussain said nutrition indicators in Pakistan had not improved since a decade. He said about 44 percent children were found suffering stunted growth in a 2011 survey. He said the survey found that 32 percent children were underweight and 62 percent were suffering from anemia. About 51 percent mothers interviewed for the survey were found anemic, 42 percent deficient in Vitamin A and 68 percent in Vitamin D, he added.

GAIN Country Manager Sajjad Imran called upon the government to ensure improved access to nutritious food in the country.

National Fortification Alliance Coordinator Dr Khawaja Masuood Ahmed said he hoped that the training would help improve the standards at regional laboratories in Pakistan and Afghanistan. He said besides the capacity building of laboratory staff, the training concerned improved testing methods to measure minerals and vitamins in fortified foods.

Pakistan Flour Mills Association Punjab chapter chairman Anjum Ishaq and PFMA Executive Member Raza Abbas represented the flour industry at the ceremony.

Ishaq said the PFMA was working with the GAIN to start fortification of wheat flour with recommended minerals. He hoped the training would help the industry produce improved quality wheat flour fortified with iron and folic acid.

Cooking oil industry was represented by Pakistan Vanaspati Manufacturers’ Association chairman Umer Islam. He said the training would be helpful for the oil milling industry in producing cooking oil fortified with Vitamin A.

Sardar Hasan Akhtar Mokal, PML-Q parliamentary secretary in the Punjab Assembly, also attended the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 21^st, 2015.