Iron, Vitamin Deficiencies Alarmingly Increasing In Pakistan: Dr Rubaba.

QUETTA -- Parliamentary Secretary Science and Technology, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Dr Rubaba Khan Buledi on Monday expressing her concern over the increasing iron and vitamin deficiencies among children across the country called for devising a concerted strategy to save the future of the next generation.

She expressed these views while speaking as a special guest at the ceremony to celebrate the month of August as the month of awareness about the importance of mother's milk at the Provincial Sandeman Hospital, Quetta. The programme was jointly organized by UNICEF, MNCH and UNFPA.

'Six out of every ten children in Pakistan are deficient in vitamin D; more than half of the children under five years of age (53.7 percent) are suffering from anemia i.e. lack of iron in the blood; while more than half of the children (51.5 percent) suffer from vitamin A deficiency,' she said. 'More than half of Pakistan's children are suffering from hidden malnutrition and this is the main reason Pakistan is unable to harness the latent potential and strengths of individuals and groups for development', she observed.

Says best complete food for a child after birth is mother's milk

Dr Rubaba said that in modern scientific century, due to the lack of knowledge and education, the majority of mothers in Pakistan were surrounded by superstitions.

A female relative puts...