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Newsletter Online
October 2002
VOL 3. NO.2

Experts Call for Urgent Attention to Early Childhood Care for National Development

AKU has long recognised the importance of human development as a key ingredient for economic growth and long-term sustainability. Being problem-oriented in its approach, the University has also identified the impact of the early years in a child's life to his or her future physical, mental and social development.

The theme for AKU’s eighth annual National Health Sciences Research Symposium held in September 2002, was therefore "Early Childhood Care and Development – Best Investment for the Future." The two-day event, with an attendance of over 500 participants, provided a forum for discussion between the public and private sectors, international agencies and other key stakeholders to create awareness, share knowledge and establish strategies to effectively address this challenge.

Dr. J. Fraser Mustard from the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, and a Founding Trustee of AKU, discussing the effects of early childhood development on learning, behaviour and health at the Symposium on Early Childhood Care and Development .


At the inaugural session, His Excellency Mohammedmian Soomro, Governor of Sindh, reinforced that the Symposium's subject was of "vital interest to the people of Pakistan and the entire developing world." He highlighted that "Our children constitute a most underprivileged and destitute constituency.” Underscoring the need for the government, universities and NGOs to collaborate in "the interests of our nation's children, its future citizens and its future leaders," Governor Soomro said that "Nations that neglect early childhood development are left to suffer the consequences."

Ambassador Saidullah Khan Dehlavi, Chairman, Board of Trustees of AKU, emphasised that AKU, being a research-based and community-oriented institution, stressed the importance of early childhood development with respect to health, learning and behaviour, as this period laid the foundation for the future development of the child. Also highlighting the subject's significance for this year's Symposium, Dr. Robert Baker, Provost, AKU, said, "Early childhood endeavours will benefit most from a strategy which acknowledges that the whole is greater than the sum of the parts.” He also highlighted the current steps being undertaken by the University in the planning of the Institute of Human Development, identified in the Chancellor's Commission Report, which outlined the future vision of AKU. It would initially focus on the unborn child and the first three years, addressing Early Childhood Care and Development from an interdisciplinary perspective.

The Symposium included lectures from speakers of international repute. Dr. J. Fraser Mustard of the Canadian Institute for Advanced Research, gave the keynote lecture. Discussing the effects of early childhood development on learning, behaviour and health, Dr. Mustard, who is also a Founding Trustee of AKU, said, "There is a growing body of evidence that brain development in the early years influences performance in the formal school system and the level of education attained." Dr. Jim Irvine, Planning Coordinator, Human Development Programme, AKU, said countries that invested in more comprehensive basic education and health care provisions for adults, especially women, and in the care and overall development of infants and young children, were more likely to have this investment returned in a more productive and effective workforce contributing to national development. Professor Zulfiqar Bhutta, Consultant Paediatrician, AKU, and Dr. Mushtaq A. Khan, Director, Centre for Research on Poverty Reduction and Income Distribution, Islamabad, spoke on aspects of malnutrition of the mother and child. According to the National Nutrition Survey, Dr. Mushtaq said, "10-15 percent of pre-schoolers suffer from moderate to severe malnutrition while 40 per cent are underweight." Timelymeasures, including investment in nutrition, could reduce the incidence significantly, with palpable effects on reduction in poverty. Professor Bhutta also noted that "Malnutrition during pregnancy and its consequences stand to maximally affect the health and longevity of the population."

The inaugural session was followed by scientific sessions and workshops, during which participants presented research papers on the Symposium's three central themes of brain development, health economics and psychosocial aspects related to childhood care. Speakers addressed a variety of issues including nutrition, child mental health and socio-economic and environmental determinants of child care. There were also three very well attended concurrent workshops on the key themes, with ensuing recommendations presented in the concluding session.

Among the recommendations emanating from the Symposium were the need for greater political awareness and renewed commitment to early childhood health and education in Pakistan. The Symposium also stressed the need for integrating Early Childhood Care and Development initiatives and education through the legislative framework of a future Ministry of Human Development. It was recommended that this should be complemented by funding and support networks rooted in the community, providing measurable outcomes.

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