KARACHI: The Sindh health ministry on Monday launched a project with the support of the United Nations Children’s Fund and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to reduce the alarming ratio of neonatal and infant deaths, officials said.

At a ceremony held at a hotel, the organisers said the project would be part of the effort to improve child survival in Pakistan. Costing $12 million, it would cover the whole of Sindh for the coming four years

“The situation is certainly not encouraging,” said health minister, Sikander Mandhro, while speaking at the programme. “We have realised it and this project is part of our collective effort to improve child survival.”

Officials of the government and the collaborating organisations said they had taken the situation “very seriously”.

“With the support of UNICEF and Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation this project is to prevent avoidable deaths and cases of pneumonia and diarrhoea,” said Dr Sahib Jan Badar, programme manager of the Sindh government’s mother, neonatal, child health programme.

Officials said the project would be implemented across all districts.

The salient features of this project are: aligning and updating the polices/ protocols for management of pneumonia and diarrhoea and procurement of essential supplies; strengthening the supply chain management system, including capacity building at district level for quantification and forecasting; and inclusion of pneumonia and diarrhoea indicators in health management information system.

The audience was informed that 105 children per 1,000 live births died in Sindh each year before reaching their fifth birthday.

“This is approximately 150,000 deaths of children under five children annually.”

They said pneumonia and diarrhoea were two major killers of those children. “Approximately 25,500 children in Sindh die from pneumonia and 15,000 from diarrhoea.”

The participants were informed that Pakistan was among the 15 countries burdened with the highest cases of deaths resulting from pneumonia and diarrhoea.

In fact, it was said, Pakistan had the third highest burden of maternal, fetal and child mortality in the world. As of 2010, the mortality rate of children under five was 89 deaths per 1,000 live births with one in every 11 Pakistani children not reaching their fifth birthday.

Acute respiratory infections (ARIs), malaria and dehydration caused by severe diarrhoea are major causes of childhood mortality in Pakistan. “Each year, approximately 91,000 children die from pneumonia and 53,300 children die from diarrhoea. In total, diarrhoea, pneumonia and malaria collectively contribute to around half of all child deaths.”

The meeting was informed that out of all the children who suffered from symptoms of respiratory tract infections, only 33pc received antibiotic treatment. Amongst those suffering from dirrrhoea, only 41pc received ORS. Just one percent of children under five suffering from diarrhoea received zinc sulphate in Sindh. “This situation results in a high burden of child mortality resulting from pneumonia and diarrhoea.”

Officials said considering such a grave situation, a Global Action Plan for Prevention of Pneumonia and Diarrhoea had been designed which recommended simple, cost effective and high yield impact interventions including breast feeding, handwashing, safe drinking water and immunisation.

They said in addition to interventions relating to two leading diseases, a child could be treated with simple measures as per global recommended guidelines.

“One of the main reason of high mortality and morbidity of these two diseases among children is no or limited availability of these essential supplies and commodities,” said an official.

Published in Dawn October 25th, 2016