ISLAMABAD, May 23: The United Nations has warned that children in Pakistan are vulnerable to the effects of global food crisis and called upon the government to take urgent action to protect them.

Speaking at a news conference here on Friday, Unicef regional director for South Asia David Toole said he had apprised the Pakistani authorities of the danger posed to children by the spiralling food prices.

The UN official, who is on a four-day visit to Pakistan as part of South Asian tour, met senior government officials and urged them to tackle the problems of high food prices and shortages.

“These children are in danger and we need to devise ways to respond to the crisis and save them,” Mr Toole told reporters.

“The government should unveil incentives such as distribution of cash and other mechanisms available at its disposal for people with limited resources all over the country to minimise the impact of wheat and rice shortage.”

He said that efforts should also be focussed on targeted food subsidies and programmes to improve food production.

Mr Toole said that the food crisis was ‘huge’, making it difficult for millions of people in South Asian to feed their children. “Pakistan is already faced with enormous challenges other than food security, including a high infant mortality rate,” he added.

“This is the greatest challenge as about 500 children die everyday in Pakistan, while 590 children die during their first 28 days of life mainly because of serious health and maternal problems among women,” he said.

In its annual report for last year, Unicef said that about 420,000 children under the age of five died every year in Pakistan and warned that the figure would surge if the government did not tackle the rising food prices.

“Poor nutrition contributes to about 50 per cent child deaths in the country. Lack of awareness, poor or inexistent health services and gender inequality mean that many women and children are denied basic facilities,” the report said.

It said that 21,000 Pakistani children died of measles and its complications annually. “Pakistan is one of the four countries in the world where polio is still widespread. There were over 1,200 tetanus-related neonatal deaths in Pakistan in 2007.”

The report said that in remote and under-developed areas such as Balochistan, one of every 10 infants died before his/her first birthday while the maternal mortality ratio stood at 600 -- almost twice the national rate.

“Over 40 per cent of Pakistanis lack basic sanitation and about 60 per cent of rural dwellers do not have access to latrine. Every year, 70,000 children in the country die as a result of water, sanitation and hygiene-related diseases,” the report said.

It said that only 17 per cent Pakistani households used iodised salt, adding that maximum population was not conscious about food quality and hygiene.