MITHI: Health experts urged the government to create awareness among Thari men and women about birth control to help reduce infant mortality rate as nine more children died on Wednesday in government hospitals from complications caused by severe malnutrition.

The deaths took place over the past four days, raising the toll to 96 since January this year. Three-year-old Parwati, Arshad, six months; a month-old Asia, and newborns of Saho Meghwar and Paro Meghwar died at Mithi Civil Hospital while Farzana and Shanti died at Islamkot rural health centre. Two more infants died of gastroenteritis in a remote village in Nagarparkar as mercury rose to 45 degree centigrade.

The officials at the district health office said that with the latest deaths of kids the toll rose to 96. About 140 kids were referred to teaching hospitals of Hyderabad and Karachi, they said.

Parents of the ailing children complained that they were being forced by doctors in to take their kids to Hyderabad.

According to independent sources including local NGOs, journalists and members of civil society, more than 3,000 children have died of hunger and various other diseases in Thar and more than 400,000 children under five years of age were brought to six healthcare facilities for various complaints, mostly caused by malnutrition.

Dr Shaikh Tanweer Ahmed, a health expert, stressed the need for revamping infrastructure of health department and family planning and said that until and unless pregnant women were focused and given healthcare facilities during pregnancy Thari kids would continue to die.

He urged the Sindh government to take measures in the light of the recent UN report on Thar and warned the situation might assume alarming proportions over the next few months with rise in temperature and delayed or erratic rainfall.

He said the government must create awareness among men and women about birth control since the region faced unusually high rate of infant and maternal deaths.

He said that generally, a Thari woman gave birth to 10 to 15 children since there was no concept of contraception. It would be very difficult to meet targets like Sustainable Development Goals if real and basic issues were not addressed, he said.

Ghulam Rasool Memon, district officer of population welfare department, said that most Tharis were reluctant to go for birth control and shun early marriages.

He urged prayer leaders to motivate people to adopt birth control and use contraceptives in a bid to reduce infant mortality rate.

He said that 40 centres of his department faced shortage of staff while most women were not willing to work in Tharparkar district.

He, however, declined to disclose the number of workers not performing their duties and the centres which had to be closed due to lack of staff. Mr Memon said that he was directed by high-ups not to share such details with media.

Partab Shivani, a social activist, said the government should step up efforts to save infants and expecting mothers.

There was an urgent need to educate Thari mothers as literacy rate among females was alarmingly low at just seven per cent due to various reasons.

He called for setting up training centres in remote and inaccessible areas to train local midwives in safe delivery at home and complained that most Thar areas remained unattended by health workers.

Published in Dawn, April 13th, 2017