ISLAMABAD: Sindh seems to have an alarmingly high percentage of women who die due to pregnancy-related causes. Unfortunately, in times of disaster, such as floods or even heavy rain, the plight of such women becomes even worse. This is because the basic infrastructure of their surroundings gets damaged and even their homes become difficult places to live in.
Also, access to healthcare facilities, clinics and shops selling medicines becomes increasingly difficult and travel becomes next to impossible. However, the present devastating monsoon rains triggered floods which have destroyed the basic infrastructure in the affected areas, put the lives of tens of thousands of pregnant women under threat.
Thousands of pregnant women die needlessly, every year, in the remote and rural areas of Sindh due to negligence by the provincial government. There are neither doctors nor skilled manpower, and even necessary medicines are not available in hospitals, dispensaries or basic health or rural health units in the province.
While visiting different areas affected by the recent rain and subsequent flooding, I came to know of many cases of premature deliveries, miscarriages and newborn babies delivered on the roadside. And there have been many cases of women who died during childbirth, because they did not have access to proper maternity facilities.
The Sindh government is requested to do the needful in this regard and make life easier for pregnant women whose lives have been turned upside down by the recent rains.
Hashim Abro
Published in The Express Tribune, September 24th, 2012.
