Poor health: Diseases claim lives of three children in two days

Salehpat residents lack proper health facilities, rush to Rohri hospital during emergencies

SUKKUR: Three children have died in just two days in a desert area of Sukkur district due to prevailing diseases such as measles, whooping cough, tetanus and hepatitis C.

In just two days, three children died in Mohammad Khan Mallah village, Salehpat taluka, which is a desert area of Sukkur. As there are no proper health facilities in the area, residents usually have to rush to Rohri taluka hospital in cases of emergencies, which is not only costly but fatal for the patients.

According to sources in different villages of Salehpat, dozens of children are suffering from measles, tetanus, whooping cough and hepatitis C. Despite repeated appeals from residents, no team of doctors has been sent to the area to check on the sick children.

The children who died were identified as five-year-old Nadeem, son of Khan Mohammad Mallah, three-year-old Sumaira, daughter of Arbab Ali Mallah, and five-month-old Ayat, daughter of Mumtaz Ali Mallah.

Villagers Khan, Arbab and others told Salehpat-based reporters that even though dozens of children are suffering from different diseases, no team of the doctors has been deputed to treat the children despite repeated requests. They said that basic health units and rural health centres are of no use as they have no doctors. In cases of emergency, we have to rush our patients to Rohri taluka hospital, due to which, most of the serious patients die on the way, they claimed.

According to residents, some areas of Salehpat taluka are getting water from the Nara canal, while most of the villagers depend on underground water. Due to this, waterborne diseases are quite common in the area. There is one basic health unit in Salehpat, where male and female doctors often remain absent and the residents are forced to take their patients either to private clinics or Rohri taluka hospital. Especially in cases of accidents or tribal feuds, the dead and the injured are shifted to Rohri taluka hospital for post-mortem and treatment, respectively.

Sukkur district health officer Abdul Wahab Mahar confirmed the deaths of the children and said that he sent a team of doctors to the area on Wednesday. He said that the doctors have taken blood samples of suspected measles patients and are awaiting the reports. A team of doctors was also sent to the area on Thursday to check on the children in different villages, he claimed. Denying the presence of any epidemic of whooping cough, tetanus, hepatitis C and measles in the area, as suggested by the residents, he said that only one suspected case of measles has been identified so far.

Shifting the onus of the children's death on the parents, Mahar claimed that the parents take the sick children to private clinics instead of government health facilities without having any prior knowledge about the conditions. No doubt the conditions in desert area are different from other areas but people should feel their responsibilities towards their children and get them proper treatment in case of sickness, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 27^th, 2016.