BADIN: As deaths resulted by undernourishment continue to be on the rise in Sindh’s Tharparkar district, four more children have died over the past 24 hours.
According to the health department, the deaths took place at Mithhi Civil Hospital. The officials said the deceased children included two newborns, one nine-day-old and another one-month-old.
In November, 33 children have lost their lives under similar circumstances in government hospitals of the district, while the total count for the current year is 200.
Tharparkar is hit by severe shortage of food every two to three years that results in malnutrition, diseases and deaths. Since the most affected are pregnant women, they give birth to malnourished children.
Tharparkar is unfortunately characterized by chronic poverty and uneven distribution of food which has left locals with a diet that lacks nutritional value. For instances, a large section of the population survives on vegetables like onions and chillies with flatbread.
The result of this malnourished diet is that pregnant women end up giving birth to children before time, who are underweight. Moreover, these children are either born with diseases or get hit by them.
Apart from that, the water available to locals in wells has high levels of sodium, which results in high blood pressure. A plan was made to set up 750 water plants in the district at a cost of Rs7.5 billion and 550 of them have been constructed. But water coming from the plants was not drinkable. According to the local, there is also an issue of maintenance of plants, which is why 70 per cent of them do not function.
