PM to chair PNCC meeting today

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan will chair the meeting of Pakistan National Nutrition Coordination Council (PNNCC) here today (Monday).

The Prime Minister, in his first speech to the nation, held up the MRI of a stunted child and highlighting the key issue of malnutrition, committed to addressing the issue. Since then, efforts have been ongoing to deliver programmes to address stunting. No serious efforts were made in the past to address the serious issue of, causing more than 40% stunting in children. That is why the federal govt has institutionalized the inter-ministerial PNNCC, chaired by the PM Imran Khan with 8 Cabinet Ministers in the Council. This is the first time in the history of Pakistan that the inter-ministerial PNNCC has been created to steer nutrition specific agenda in the country.

Dr. Sania Nishtar, SAPM on Social Protection and Poverty Alleviation is the Vice-Chair and hosts the secretariat of the Council. Other Cabinet Members in the Council are Minister for National Food Security and Research Syed Fakhar Imam, Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Dr. Fehmida Mirza, Minister for Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mehmood, Advisor to the PM on Commerce and Investment Abdul Razak Dawood, Advisor to the PM on Finance and Revenue Abdul Hafeez Shaikh, Advisor to the PM on Climate Change Malik Amin Aslam Khan, SAPM on National Health Services Dr. Faisal Sultan, Chief Secretaries of all four provinces, GB and AJK, federal secretaries and experts from UNICEF and SUN. PNNCC is country’s coordination body at the federal level on nutrition and all allied matters. Building synergies to support Ehsaas programme, the Council has been assigned the mandate to lead National Nutrition Policy and specific strategies and to ensure cross-country, cross-ministerial, inter-sectoral and inter-provincial collaboration for prevention of stunting and malnutrition among children. Alongside that, Council will meet at least once every six months and periodically review progress made by all stakeholders. Speaking about the scale and scope of PNNCC, SAPM Dr. Sania Nishtar said, “The role of the Council is very important in Pakistan’s federal system where nutrition is a decentralized subject and a provincial responsibility. The issue of nutrition is multifactorial with an interplay of agriculture and food systems, health and hygiene, poverty, inadequate dietary intake and household environment.