Milestones

Pakistan mandated the fortification of edible oil and ghee produced in the country with Vitamin A in 1965 through the West Pakistan Pure Food Rules, which has been retained in the provincial food laws in all four provinces since then

Pakistan holds it's first national level election after years of being ruled by civilian and military bureaucracies

The first, and to date only, female prime minister, Benazir Bhutto brought women's rights forward during her tenure

Established in 1993, LHWP established a community health worker platform to provide a range of services including door-to-door health care provision, micronutrient supplementation, nutrition education, and counselling for family planning

This programme was initiated by the government in 1994, with the aim of providing primary health care services at the doorstep and improving the health conditions in rural areas; this was supported through the Lady Health Workers program, which provided primary health services, nutritional advice, and IFA to women within communities

Severe droughts lead to crop failure and mass starvation

Droughts once again plague the country leading to widespread hunger

A range of partner organizations were called to jointly develop a concerted national strategy to tackle malnutrition in the population, leading to development of Nutrition wing in the Ministry of Health following the findings of the 2001 National Nutrition Survey. The wing recognized nutrition as a stand-alone policy priority

Parntership of Pakistan government with Micronutrient Initiative and the UN to eliminate deficiencies of micronutrients including iron, folic acid, vitamin A, iodine, and zinc

One of Pakistan's first direct nutrition interventions, the Tawana program was a school feeding program that integrated nutrition programs directly to girls in school

The NFA of Pakistan was constituted under the MoH and aims to provide a forum for stakeholders to oversee, plan, and monitor food fortification efforts across all levels and stakeholders in Pakistan; NFA Has launched various projects with support from WFP to fortify flour with iron and other micronutrients

The Maternal and Child Health Policy and Strategic Framework was established to help meet Millenium Development Goals, with strategies including increased demand and access for quality health services and strengthening of existing district health systems

The NWFFP was launched in 2005 with technical support from Micronutrient Initiative and industry commitment from the Pakistan Flour Mills Association

Overarching initiatve focused on improved maternal, newborn, and child health outcomes with priority to develop comprehensive and integrated MNCH services at the district level (including family planning, micronutrient supplementation)

Social protection program that supported the poorest / most vulnerable populations by providing unconditional cash transfers; families receiving grants were encouraged to improve dietary intake through nutrition counselling. Highest coverage rates were observed in Sindh, which also experienced the largest decline in anemia

Since 2010, the Global Alliance for Improved Nutrition (GAIN) has provided technical assistance to the Nutrition Wing of the MoH to improve coverage and compliance for food fortification programs

In 2011, Pakistan partnered with the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization to develop the Pakistan Integrated Nutrition Strategy, establishing a framework for nutritional outcome improvement including nutrition education and fortification

The MNFSR was established by the Pakistan government to demonstrate continued commitment to improving national food security and improved effectiveness of key un-devolved functions of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MINFA)

The RMNCH program was implemented to reduce maternal, newborn, and child mortality and improve nutritional status of women, and has acted as a catalyst to initiatives promoted to address malnutrition and increased accessibility to MNCH services

The Nutrition Support Program (NSP) aimed to improve the nutritional status of pregnant and lactating women and children under 5 years of age in nine districts across the province. The program was comprised of five components: (1) improve nutrient intake and adequate care for young children and pregnant women; (2) increase intake of essential vitamins and minerals; (3) modify key nutrition-related behaviors; (4) strengthen institutional capacity; and (5) implement monitoring and evaluation for program effectiveness

Thve INSS was constructed to tackle malnutrition by adopting nutrition-specific interventions to reduce undernutrition in women and children in accessible populations. It partnered with the LHW program to deliver interventions largely in the health sector

In 2013, Pakistan joined the global Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) movement, committing to scale up research, policy planning, and reforms designed to foster national health and integrate nutrition across health, agriculture, education, and social protection

The Saaf Suthro Sindh Program aimed to improve the nutritional status of rural communities in Sindh through the implementation of sanitation interventions. During the project period, SSS was implemented in 13 districts of Sindh and is a component of the Intersectoral Nutrition Strategy of Sindh

KPK provincial nutrition strategy aims to improve population nutrition, establishing recognition of nutrition in health and socioeconomic development in the region

Punjab, in collaboration with UNICEF, launched the MSNS in 2015, aimed to leverage a multi-sectoral approach to improve malnutrition burden in the region

The overall goal of this policy is to streamline the sector and that the entire population of KP has access to adequate quantity of potablewater at affordable cost through equitable, efficient and sustainable services by 2025

Between 2016 and 2021, the WFP has provided approximately $30M USD to support implementation and coverage of food fortification programs

As part of a multi-sectoral Accelerated Action Plan, PINS aimed to improve nutritional status of children under five and of pregnant and lactating women via inter-sectoral interventions including IFA supplementation for pregnant women

The Ministry of National Food Security and Research launched Pakistan's first National Food Security Policy, focused on implementation of multi-sectoral nutrition strategies and programs

Primary objectives included increased uptake of contraception and improved access and utilization of family planning services, particularly for adolescent girls in rural areas of Punjab

In collaboration with Scaling Up Nutrition, Pakistan enacted the PMNS to ensure further guidance to provinces on health & nutrition policies and programming

The Sindh government, in collaboration with the National Fortification Alliance and WFP launched the Provincial Food Fortification Strategy to tackle micronutrient deficiencies in the region