Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Health received a senior delegation of the Junaid Family Foundation on the auspicious occasion of finalizing plans for a Multi Micronutrient Supplementation (MMS) program for pregnant women in Pakistan.
This program will contribute to the achievement of the vision of the Prime Minister of Pakistan to address nutritional imbalances in women and children of the country and allow for a healthier and more productive nation. Under instructions from the prime minister, the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination has been working with the stakeholder to prepare a comprehensive plan to address malnutrition in Pakistan. MMS will be one of the interventions which will contribute to decreasing malnutrition in pregnant women.
MMS supplementation has been included in the global list of approved Essential Medicines by the World Health Organization earlier this year and the latest recommendation, in light of rigorous research, is to provide MMS to pregnant women. This supplement reduces anemia in pregnant women thus decreasing chances of maternal mortality and improving the birth weight of babies.
The Junaid Family Foundation in close collaboration with KIRK Humanitarian has offered to provide MMS supplements and the Junaid Family Foundation will also support the government in distribution and enhanced use of MMS for the period of next five years.
Health Ministry previously signed a letter of interest with Junaid Family Foundation and it’s supporters Kirk Foundation USA to carry out a process evaluation of a study and implementation of supplying MMS to the needy population especially GB,ICT and AJK which will provide a baseline for enhancing the support to other parts of Pakistan to address not only maternal anaemia but also the micronutrients deficiencies in Pakistan.
It was shared that currently supplements for 130,000 pregnant women have already arrived in the country and a further supplement for two million pregnant women is expected in the next year. This collaboration will allow for safe pregnancy and improved child health all over Pakistan.
