Deaths in Tharparkar

Irrespective of the cause of deaths of these children, relief is urgently needed for the people of Tharparkar.

Once again the plight of the people of Tharparkar has surfaced, and once again there is no consensus about what it is that is killing their children in disproportionately large numbers. As many as 200 children died between January and March of this year, with the population attributing most of the deaths to the desperate situation they find themselves in as a result of an ongoing drought. They got some relief with scattered rains in April. Government relief distribution ended in May. Today, there are 40 children in the Mithi civil hospital’s paediatric ward said to be suffering from malnutrition, and 18 children have reportedly died in July, almost one a day.

There is certainly inconsistency in terms of the numbers depending on the source, with the health authorities questioning both the numbers and the cause of death, citing that newborns are among the dead and that they cannot therefore be considered as malnourished. However, the malnourishment of the mother is a significant factor in infant deaths, and malnourished women may fail to lactate and be in very poor health themselves. The mother may be unable to sustain the baby which could lead to the death of the baby. A judge from the Sindh High Court relief inspection team was unimpressed with the attitude of the provincial government when he visited the Mithi hospital and made his views plain. Admittedly providing primary paediatric care to a scattered population across a vast desert is extremely challenging and few doctors are prepared to work there despite incentives offered by the Sindh government (which we note they have yet to pay.) Whatever the cause of the deaths of these children it is obvious that relief is urgently needed for the people of Tharparkar. They need food and potable water, and with the monsoon looking weak this year they may find little relief from precipitation. The provincial government needs to resume the supply of aid on an emergency basis; and agencies need to stop trading numbers and focus on humanitarian needs. Put the people first.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2014.

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