Sindh wakes up from slumber after 32 kids perish of malnutrition

• CM Qaim issues orders for dispatching wheat, medicines to famine-hit Thar
• Health Minister Dahar associates infant mortality to multiple causes

As the death toll in famine hit-Tharparkar district of Sindh climbed to 32 with another casualty from malnutrition on Monday, the Sindh government decided to dispatch medical teams for provision of health services to the ailing children and distribute wheat among all poor families in the high arid zone.

According to reports, Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah, while chairing a high-level meeting at the Chief Minister’s House Sunday night, directed the Food Department to distribute wheat free of cost among the poor people of Thar, and ordered the Health Department to dispatch at least 10 medical mobile teams, equipped with necessary equipment, such as incubators, oxygen, medicines and other related things, to far-flung areas of Thar.

Qaim also directed Minister for Education Nisar Khuhro and his Adviser on Information Maula Bux Chandio to visit Tharparkar on Tuesday to assess the situation, monitor working of hospital(s) and meet with the people for their help.

Earlier, the meeting was given a briefing by the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) DG Salman Shah who had visited Thar along with CM’s Adviser on Relief and Rehabilitation Ali Hassan Hingoro on the instructions of Qaim Ali Shah.

Salman Shah said that from January 1 to January 10, some 17 newborn kids died and most of them were born under pre-term deliveries. He said that these newborn babies had carried infections due to deliveries under unhygienic conditions at their homes. The meeting was informed that most of the population living in the desert was poverty stricken and although there was no drought condition in the district, distribution of wheat could provide them with considerable relief.

Prominent among those attended the meeting included MNA Faryal Talpur, Education Minister Nisar Khuhro, Food Minister Nasir Shah, Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Sohail Anwar Siyal, Ali Mardan Shah and MNA Nawab Yousaf Talpur.

Per reports, another child two years of age succumbed to malnutrition at Mithi’s Civil Hospital on Monday, bringing the death toll to 32.

Nevertheless, Health Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar said that there were multiple causes of infant mortality in Thar like early marriages, cultural values, malnutrition and pre-mature births. He said the government was utilising the best resources to uplift the living standard of the people.

“This is true that Thar falls in high arid zone yet cultivation does take place in its pockets and situation was quite good this season with no chance of any famine,” he said.

The minister said that malnutrition among kids as well as adult population, particularly women, was a harsh fact and this was again closely linked to cultural traditions and norms, yet “we do not and cannot be absolved of our responsibilities,” he said responding to a query”.

Health Minister Dahar said that “we were in close coordination with the USAID for mobile medical teams at district and tehsil level in Thar”. He said that incentives were being given to specialists to serve in Thar but no one was ready to go there.

He however said that more than 817 lady health workers (LHWs) were working in the area with an increased focus on improving primary health-care system across the province.

Dahar directed the health secretary to establish neurosurgery wards in all government hospitals to provide better health facilities to the people. He also asked the philanthropists to come forward to help the Health Department to facilitate the patients.

A week earlier, Pakistan People’s Party Chairman Bilawal Bhutto had constituted a committee comprising of Moula Bux Chandio and Nasir Shah to look into the situation in Thar, but the death toll continued rising with each passing day.