Malnutrition in Tharparkar is unabated as four more children killed due to the famine on Saturday. A seven-month-old girl Kavita died in Mithi Hospital, one minor lost life in Diplo Hospital while another infant fell prey to hunger in Islam Kot hospital. The death toll has reached 161 in 44 days. Tharparkar district in the famous Thar Desert spans over 120,000 square miles across the Indo-Pak subcontinent. Though only 15 per cent of the desert lies in Pakistan, high rates of child mortality largely due to acute malnutrition pose a major challenge to the local authorities, humanitarian organisations and civil society groups working in the area.
Reportedly, Civil Hospital in Mithi lacks funding while staffers remain absent and medicines are scarce in the area. Lack of resources has further added to the misery of the locals. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO) guidelines, if the Global Acute Malnutrition (GAM) rate among children and women is above 15 percent, it is to be considered an emergency situation.