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Shifa Foundation supports the Government of Pakistan in the improvement of maternal and new born care and infant and young child nutrition practices to overcome the stunning and wasting in the country and reduce the infant and maternal mortality and morbidity in the county. The National Nutrition Survey 2011 results revealed that indicators of stunting and wasting have worsened over the last 10 years. According to NNS 2011, 43.7% children were stunted and 15.1% were wasted at national level. Nutritional status of women of reproductive age group was also low and 18.0% of them were with low Body Mass Index (BMI). The NNS 2011 also revealed that only 25% pregnant mother had knowledge about importance of micronutrient and vitamins and other essential minerals and only 26.7% were taking iron-folic acid supplementation during pregnancy. Infant and Young Child Feeding and caring practices was also low with initiation of breast milk for new born within one hour was only 50.5% with exclusive breast-feeding rate of 9.6%. Moreover, timely initiation of complementary food was 63 % among infants 6 to 8 months but only 3.2% of infants 6 to 24 months old were getting appropriate dietary diversification for complementary feeding.

Shifa Foundation implemented several projects in different disadvantaged communities of the country to respond their dire nutritional needs. The purpose of these projects was to respond to the immediate needs of malnourished households and contribute in food security of different disaster affected and vulnerable communities through nutrition specific interventions. These interventions strengthened the capacity of the health system to better anticipate, prepare for and deliver services for the management of acute malnutrition during periods of high demand whilst still protecting and supporting on-going health and nutrition system strengthening efforts. Screened children, pregnant and lactating women in response to the immediate needs of malnutrition and contributed to food security of disaster affected vulnerable communities. Shifa Foundation also introduces innovative ideas of food security and skill enhancement to empower communities and uplift their livelihoods through exploring new economic opportunities.

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