MSF team helping children in southern Balochistan

Doctors Without Borders providing healthcare in one of the most backward areas

DERA MURAD JAMALI: Children are among the single biggest victims of neglect in two of Balochistan’s more populous districts of Naseerabad and Jaffarabad. Health facilities are few and far between. Most of them are also ill equipped. It’s no surprise then that children are currently facing a very high mortality rate in the two districts and elsewhere.

According to an official, only 10 per cent of the infants born in these areas survive as there is a general lack of awareness about health and hygiene of the mother and the child, who often suffer first at the hand of untrained midwives and later from malnutrition and rampant diseases.



In this bleak situation, a team of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) or Doctors without Borders has brought a ray of hope to mothers and children in Dera Murad Jamali by establishing a feeding centre at the city’s District Headquarters Hospital.

Malnourished babies are examined at the Ambulatory Therapeutic Feeding Centre (ATFC) with extra care. Mohammad Siddiq, who is responsible for running the centre, weighs each child before providing them with ready-to-use food supplements containing iron, vitamins, zinc and other minerals.

He said the centre receives 10 to 15 new cases daily, while 50-60 children come for follow-up treatment. “The nursery, which has the capacity to keep 13 newborns, is equipped with 11 cots and two incubators,” he added.

Mai Mumtaz, a mother of five, was holding in her arms her son, Pir Bux, who was receiving a food supplement. “Earlier, I had four daughters and therefore my only son is very dear to me,” she said, with a smile.

The boy was one-and-a-half-year-old but looked not more than five- to six- months-old. “I have been bringing him to the ATFC for the last two months for therapeutic feeding, because his weight had reduced to just one kg, and now he has gained 6 kg and still gaining weight,” she said.



This centre is no less than a blessing for the poor people, who could not afford to take their children to private clinics, she said. “I just bring my child here and get the necessary food supplement and medicines free of charge,” she added.

Dr Barkat Hussain Khoso is the in-charge of 17-bed pediatric ward established by the MSF. “Most commonly we receive children having tuberculosis, meningitis, tetanus, skin diseases and infection problems,” he said.

Dr Khosa said many children did not get the BCG vaccination after birth for  a host of reasons, including lack of education and knowledge. “Sometimes, the health department teams cannot visit some areas due to security reasons,” he said, adding that tuberculosis is quite common in the region.

Three-year-old Abid was admitted to the pediatric ward following tuberculosis. His mother Zeenat told The Express Tribune that the boy was born normal and healthy but had later fallen prey to the disease.

“The MSF people are taking very good care of the patients. My son is doing well because of the special attention,” she added.

“Due to extreme poverty and lack of education, people care little about their children and bring them to the hospital, when their condition is already worsened,” said Dr Khoso. According to a nursing supervisor Kiran, tetanus is also a major problem in this area, due to which only 10 per cent newborn babies survive.

“Since the establishment of this nursery, the rate of surviving babies with tetanus has increased considerably,” she said. Midwife Roberta Masotti is in charge of the newly established mother and child health centre. She told The Express Tribune that her facility can accommodate nine women at a time. “Mostly we are dealing with post-delivery complications, caused primarily by the untrained midwives,” she said.



Masotti said since its establishment on July 13, at least 58 children are born in the centre and all these deliveries have been normal. “At this centre, we are providing antenatal and postnatal care, besides educating mothers about family planning methods,” she said.

The MSF’s Project Coordinator Bart Bardok said besides providing best available medical care to mothers and children, the organisation is also managing nine mobile teams in different areas of Naseerabad and Jaffarabad districts.

“The response from the community and especially from the parents is very impressive and that is why our team is working wholeheartedly,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 16^th, 2016.