Communities in Thar, particularly women, lack awareness about major health concerns
KARACHI: I wish to draw the attention of the authorities concerned towards a grave issue. This was also highlighted in an article by Kamal Siddiqi titled “Let them die” (March 13).
The drought situation in Thar shows that 311 children, under the age of five, have died between December 2013 and November 2015, according to reports. It classifies the deceased children according to their ages. Some of the 118 children who died were newborn babies — one-day old. Another 82 children who died were aged two days to one month, while 28 children were aged one month and a half to three months and 29 were those whose age ranged between eight months and one year. Communities in Thar, particularly women, lack awareness about major health concerns. Most married couples have an average of eight children.
We have been hearing about the issues in Thar repeatedly, but our mainstream electronic media has barely highlighted the grave situation in the region. There have been reports about groups saying they want to educate the children of the enemy, yet these groups and our media do not care about the children of Thar. Metro projects in Punjab and green buses in Karachi — with a Rs16 billion budget — are seen as more newsworthy and important issues. If our electronic media continues to ignore Thar, our lethargic government will remain aloof and take no action, as it does best.
Aleena Iftikhar
Published in The Express Tribune, March 21st, 2016.
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