‘454 children have died in Tharparkar this year due to malnutrition’

Around 454 children have died in Tharparkar this year due to malnutrition and other preventable diseases as the government has failed to ensure medical facilities, said Akram Khaskheli, the president of the Hari Welfare Association.

In a statement issued on Sunday, Khaskheli said “28 children had died of malnutrition and preventable diseases in Tharparkar this September alone as the Sindh government has failed to ensure proper medical facilities and services in the district, despite having witnessed the worst case scenarios there.”

He added that every year more than 1,500 children lose their lives because of these issues, however, it is deplorable that these deaths don’t get reported often. Khaskheli regretted that the provincial government has failed to save and protect children dying from malnutrition and preventable diseases in the underdeveloped Sanghar and Tharparkar districts.

The statement read: “Twenty-three per cent of the global acute malnutrition was found in Tharparkar and 16 per cent in Sanghar, which according to the World Health Organization is the most critical state of starvation. Additionally, 53 per cent of children in Sanghar and 46 per cent in Tharparkar were found to be stunted.”

Khaskheli urged the federal government to take emergency measures to provide food and healthcare facilities to the people, especially children and mothers in the affected region. He also urged the army to rescue the children by organising medical and food camps.

He lamented that it had been years, yet they had not seen the provincial government take any concrete measures to save and protect children.