Government has been partnering with many non-profit organizations and global aid agencies for years to rid Pakistan of the evil called malnutrition. Despite all the great intentions and utmost efforts, the challenge remains the same. Nearly 10 million Pakistani children today suffer from stunting while eight out of ten children in Pakistan do not eat nutritious food. According the National Nutrition Survey (NNS) 2018, about 29 per cent of children under five were found to be underweight, with high prevalence in the rural areas (31.6 per cent). The survey also found out that more than half (53.7 per cent) of Pakistani children are anaemic. About 51 per cent of children have vitamin A deficiency followed by about63 per cent children facing vitamin D deficiency. These staggering stats on the deteriorating condition of Pakistani children are proof that perhaps something is missing in the nutrition action plan.

Many scientific studies show that the fight against malnutrition has to be specific and targeted towards the two main recipients of assistance; the mother and the child. A nutrient-deficient expecting and feeding mother is as much in need of our attention as the suffering child, himself. Many of the worst cases of malnutrition have been observed in poorly developed or rural areas where people earn limited income and have minimal or no education. Resultantly, they are not able to afford even basic food items both qualitatively and quantitatively. Since about more than 80 per cent of milk production takes place in the rural areas, such families rely mostly on milk as a regularly and easily available food item. Simultaneously if we take a deep dive into the latest NNS, most cases of severe malnutrition also occur in the rural areas. The mind doesn’t comprehend this fact.

Here is a short thesis about this correlation. While one cannot deny the importance of milk in the diet of women and children especially in their early years, the quality of loose milk still remains questionable. According to estimates, about 95 per cent of dairy sector comprises of loose milk while only 5 per cent comprises of packaged milk industry. According to a study carried out by the Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Sciences, University of Agriculture, Peshawar, loose milk is a source of various diseases owing to the unhygienic housing system at dairy farms, unhygienic milking practices, dirty utensils, transportation and water adulteration. Loose milk can contain harmful germs, such as bacteria, viruses, and parasites that result into many types of illnesses. Similarly, studies suggest that consuming raw milk, as opposed to the packaged or pasteurized alternatives, can lead to many days of diarrhea, stomach cramping, and vomiting. Less commonly, it may result into severe or even life-threatening illnesses which can cause paralysis, and hemolytic uremic syndrome which can result in kidney failure, stroke, and even death.

As opposed to loose milk, there are safe-to-use alternatives available in the market in the form of ultra-high temperature processing (UHT) or pasteurized milk. UHT is the process where milk is heated at high temperature for certain duration to eliminate all the micro-organisms. Similarly, pasteurisation is the process under which milk is heated at a certain temperature for certain duration and then quickly cooled down to eliminate certain bacteria.

Most Pakistanis remain unaware to the many health hazards posed by loose milk as opposed to packaged milk.It wouldn’t be a stretch to say that people who are purchasing substandard adulterated loose milk (sometimes the only food they consume the entire day) are actually worse off than those who consume fewer calories than their daily requirement via other food options. There is a dire need for creating awareness among people to make healthy food choices.

Given the challenges that the country faces in this regard, great responsibility lies on the government on two ends i.e., regulating the loose milk market and strengthening the packaged milk industry. Government should create awareness and educate dairy farmers to undertake safe milk practices e.g., provision of high-quality fodder, ensuring animal health and hygiene and clean shedding facilities, increased animal productivity, clean milking procedures, improved storing and refrigeration facilities, and supply of unadulterated milk to consumers etc. It doesn’t end here. The government should also introduce and effectively implement the minimum pasteurization law so to bind every supplier to provide safe milk. Simultaneously the government should support the packaged dairy industry in terms of introducing industry friendly fiscal policies for the overall sectoral growth. Due to the ever-increasing input cost and the abolition of zero rated sales tax policy, there is a hike in the overall prices of milk. Which is why the processed/packaged milk turns out to be an unlikely choice for the consumers generally and the poor particularly. Access to safe milk, like safe water, is everyone’s first priority and it should be made available easily. Similarly, the government needs to intervene and modernize the agriculture sector which currently uses inefficient agricultural practices leading to high farmgate prices of the dairy products.

The current taxation policy has encouraged informal loose milk market beyond imagination. Its effects can be seen in the worryingly growing statistics of malnourished women and children across Pakistan today. The fight for healthy Pakistan has to be fought on many fronts; the first and foremost important of which is banning the consumption of unpasteurized adulterated loose milk as well as eradicating policies that are empowering the informal dairy sector and leading towards an under-nourished nation.–

– The Writer is an author and a communications practitioner.