Pakistan's Stunting Crisis: Millions of Children Face Cognitive Damage

Children impacted by stunting suffer cognitive damage. They usually have poor memory, reduced attention and lower educational achievement. Even a modest percentage implies hundreds of thousands of children who will require early intervention, rehabilitation and inclusive education in the coming years, Rabiya Javeri Agha, Chairperson of Pakistan's National Commission for Human Rights, wrote in the country's leading daily Dawn.

"The wave is coming and Pakistan is not prepared. Pakistan has over 5,500 Basic Health Units and 96,000 Lady Health Workers, yet routine developmental screening does not exist. A child can be seen repeatedly without being assessed for delays until those delays prevent school participation. Even birth registration remains critically low, with only 42 per cent of children under five registered," Agha mentioned.

"Without an identity, millions remain invisible to the systems meant to support them. Access to rehabilitation services is limited to cities, with therapists and psychologists largely absent in remote areas. A family in rural Balochistan must choose between forgoing support or travelling at unaffordable cost. The window for early intervention closes, and the child enters school already behind," she added.

The National Commission for Human Rights chairperson opined that even though Pakistan has taken measures for inclusive education, the system still depends heavily on segregated models. Research suggests that nearly 70 per cent of children who have disabilities have not been admitted to school. Majority of mainstream schools do not have assistive devices or accommodations for children who have learning difficulties. These are the students who are most likely to be left behind in classrooms.

The 2023 Census has revealed that 7.45 million people in Pakistan have disabilities while more than 23 million have functional limitations. This disparity indicates that many children with developmental delays remain out of formal recognition systems. Since over five million children are born each year in Pakistan, even modest prevalence of developmental delay translates into enormous need every year, as per the report. Pakistan lacks force to respond while the data systems created to track children do not communicate with one another, making it difficult for the authorities to anticipate what lies in future.

"The children who are stunted today will be school-aged tomorrow. They will enter school with delays, and become adolescents navigating systems ill-equipped to support them. Those who leave school early will face labour markets that already exclude persons with disabilities at disproportionate rates. This is not a prediction but an identification of risk, and risk can be mitigated through action," Agha wrote in Dawn.

This week, Pakistan will speak about its laws and policies before the Committee on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in Geneva. However, accountability can be measured whether a child in rural Balochistan, a girl in a village of Punjab or a boy in a Karachi gets the support they require for learning and participating.

- IANS