MITHI: At least 10 more children died from malnutrition and related diseases in drought-hit Thar on Sunday and Monday, raising the unofficial death toll to 341 since Jan 1, this year.

Nine infants identified as five-year-old Aso Bheel, four-month-old Amo Lakh, ten-month-old Seeta, 30-days Dadu, five-month-old Ghulam Mohammad, ten-month-old Abdul Razzak and three other newborns died at the Mithi Civil Hospital while a newborn breathed his last in Baka Karan village on his way to the civil hospital.

Dr Jai Kumar, in-charge of the emergency center, said that so far 193 kids had died in hospitals and over 270 had been referred to teaching hospitals of Hyderabad and Karachi.

Meanwhile, Tharparkar Deputy Commissioner Dr Shahzad Tahir Thaheem said in a press statement that the ninth phase of wheat distribution began on Sunday after Rs30 million were released by the department concerned for the transport of wheat.

He said that after the completion of this phase the tenth phase might be launched if there was still need to help mitigate sufferings of Tharis. Seven modern mobile dispensaries and recruitment of 69 doctors would greatly improve healthcare in the desert region, he said, adding heatstroke centres had also been set up in the district to bring succour to the poor.

Dr Shaikh Tanweer Ahmed, the chief executive officer of the Health and Nutrition Development Society, said that comprehensive policies could be formulated to avoid more fatalities in the drought-hit region.

He urged the Sindh government to act in light of the reports prepared by National Council for Human Rights and a four-member committee formed by the government itself on the directives of the Sindh High Court.

He saw it as a good omen that WHO officials had finally realised the gravity of the situation and learnt that Tharis were in fact facing the worst kind of food insecurity and malnutrition. “There is great need to go to the bottom of the chronic problems confronting the drought-hit Thar to save future generations of the arid area,” he added.

Ms Zahida Detho, chief of the Sindh Rural Partners Organisation, demanded the government should send doctors’ teams from teaching hospitals to the remote areas of Thar to treat the dying children and pregnant women who, she said, were facing the worst conditions ever in current hot weather and incessant droughts.

Published in Dawn, May 24th, 2016