DADU: Villagers in two settlements along the Manchhar Lake embankment have complained that seven children have died of measles and a hitherto undiagnosed disease over the last two days but health authorities have not so far sent any team of doctors to the affected areas to investigate the disease and provide medical aid to poor patients.

The deceased were identified as three-year-old twins Hassan and Hussain, one-year-old Bharai Khan, Walidad Mallah, two-year-old Mohammad, who lived in Khan Mohammad Mallah village at Zero Point, 18-month-old Ali Raza and six-month-old Tania Malllah, who died in Madni Mallah village near Shah Hassan town. All of them fell victim to a mysterious disease between Jan 1 and Feb 20, said the villagers.

Affected villagers, mostly fishermen, spoke to this reporter about complete lack of healthcare facilities in villages around the lake. Most of the children were believed to have died of measles.

No health official was found in their offices though they were available on mobile phones and most of them were found unaware about the deaths.

A local resident, Sughran Mallah, said that the lake’s water had become highly polluted due to which the number of fish species in the lake had reduced from 200 to only 10. Children were dying of mysterious water-borne diseases, she guessed.

Haji Khan Mohammad Mallah said that his twin sons died of measles two days back. He was so poor even to perform a proper funeral, he said, adding that his relatives pooled money for the funeral.

Madani Mallah, the 75-year-old head of the village named after him, said that at least seven children died from Jan 2 to Feb 20 in Pir Mashaikh, Mazhar Shah, Shah Hassan and Liaquat Ali Mallah villages. No official of health department and elected representatives had visited the poor villagers, he regretted.

Jamshoro DHO Dr Vinod Kumar said the children’s deaths were reported from the area that fell within the limits of Dadu district.

Dadu DHO Dr Abdul Hameed Shaikh said that two teams of doctors had been sent to the affected village.

DG health Dr Mohammad Juman Bahuto said that DHOs of Jamshoro and Dadu were directed to probe the actual cause of the deaths and verify names of the deceased. He doubted reports of children’s deaths in such a large number, he said.

According to Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Mumtaz Ali Shah, 11 suspected measles-related deaths were reported in Dadu, including two deaths in Khan Mohammad Mallah village in December 2021. Five more suspected cases of measles were reported from the same area on Feb 20, he said.

The initial probe after the outbreak in December revealed that all the measles cases were reported in the areas where entire villages had refused to have their children vaccinated during routine immunization campaign.

Published in Dawn, February 21st, 2022