Beyond child mortality

Beyond child mortality
NO matter what the government does to sell a positive image of Pakistan to a doubting international community, the country’s socio-economic indicators — particularly those pertaining to children who constitute 44 per cent of the population — will continue to reflect its skewed priorities. Unicef’s latest report on the ‘state of the world’s children’ is not exactly an eye-opener, for it is no secret that Pakistan has failed to protect its children from the ravages of disease and malnutrition. But it does underscore the paradox of the situation — that a nation which frequently flaunts its nuclear prowess as a demonstration of its concern for national security should not even be able to guarantee health security to its children.There are, of course, many reasons why Pakistan has slid to a dismal rank of 42 in the U-5MR index, with Afghanistan being the worst in South Asia. Apart from malnutrition, inadequate access to immunisation programmes, poor health services and complications at birth that untrained midwives are unable to prevent, there is also the issue of gender bias. Not only does the preference for male children mean nutritional deprivation for the girl child, it also has a negative impact on maternal health that is crucial to the wellbeing of the unborn infant.What is a matter of concern though is that despite spending more than 0.5 per cent of GDP — an amount almost equivalent to the total meagre allocation for health — on child and maternal health programmes, progress has been slow. What is impeding better results? Are the budgeted amounts being spent judiciously and honestly? A fair assessment is needed of the programmes and their implementation, because at this rate Pakistan is not going to meet the millennium development goal of reducing child mortality by two-thirds by 2015.At the end of the day, one must come back to the initial point of skewed priorities. Last June, Pakistan increased its defence budget by almost 10 per cent — to 3.13 per cent of the GDP. Predictions are that the allocated amount of Rs275bn will increase in the years ahead as the military continues to battle a never-ending stream of Islamic militants and shores up other defences. It is tragic that the emphasis on defence has diverted the government’s attention from the social sectors which have a direct impact on the quality of life of the people, especially children. If young lives have to be saved, the focus must be on the status of women in Pakistan. Educated and healthy women, who space their children, bear and rear healthy babies who grow up to be productive adults who contribute to the progress of the nation. By investing in its people, the government can show it cares about them. This could prove to be the most effective way of battling militancy that, more than religious indoctrination, has its roots in poverty and growing social discontent.
(Courtesy Dawn Editorial page 25 th January 2008)