Death toll rises to 25 as one more infant dies in drought-hit Thar

THARPARKAR: One more newborn girl died at Mithi Civil Hospital here on Tuesday increasing the death toll to 25 in the month of March, ARY News reported.

Authorities have apparently failed to control the rate of casualties despite making tall claims of special measures to end rising number of deaths due to malnutrition and epidemic diseases in the drought-hit region.

At least 25 deaths are recorded in Tharparkar while the number of casualties in 2019 soars to 170 this year, says the hospital administration.

On February 24, three children had died at Mithi Civil Hospital in Tharparkar within 48 hours increasing death toll of children in the drought-hit region to 53 within one month.

Undernourishment and other health problems in the desert district continued to take toll of human lives in the area.

On March 8, PM Imran Khan had announced the provision of health insurance cards to 1.2million people from Tharparkar and a long-term plan aimed at establishing mobile hospitals and provision of ambulances is already in the pipeline.

The PM also announced establishing of 100 RO plants in the district, adding that more plants will be established in the future if the need arises.

The PM maintained that developing the neglected and underdeveloped areas of the country remains his government’s top priority.

Every year hundreds of children die due to malnutrition, various infections and lack of proper medical facilities and medicines in the region, health department sources said.

“Pakistan is the riskiest place to be born as measured by its newborn mortality rate,” a report stated. “A baby born in Pakistan is almost 50 times more likely to die during his or her first month than a baby born in Japan, Iceland and Singapore.”

Death toll rises to 25 as one more infant dies in drought-hit Tharparkar