ASIA/PAKISTAN - Hundreds of children are starving to death because of the drought in the south of the Country

Wednesday, 7 January 2015

Islamabad (Agenzia Fides) - The civil hospital’s team of paramedics in Mithi, Tharparkar district in the south of Pakistan, for the last two months have witnessed dozens of people, mostly infants under two years of age, die from starvation, unable to withstand the fierce drought that continues to grip this region. The death toll hit 650 at the close of 2014, but continues to rise in the New Year as scant food stocks wither away and cattle belonging to herding communities perish under the blistering sun.
Agriculture and livestock farming are the primary livelihoods in Tharparkar, no easy task in an arid region where rainwater harvesting and underground wells are sometimes 120 meters deep provide the only source of fresh water. The efforts of NGOs are not enough to stem the crisis. According to the president of Future in Our Hands Pakistan (FIOHP), the government supplied wheat at the start of the drought, but later slowed its efforts. FIOH is performing some relief work at the local level, but cannot single-handedly cover the entire district, whose population is spread out over 2,300 villages in an area spanning 22,000 square km.
The government is relying on 16-year-old data, gathered during the 1998 census, to determine who is in need of aid. This is why many victims have not received emergency supplies
Research indicates that Tharparkar has the lowest Human Development Index of all 25 districts in the Sindh province. Malnutrition and poor healthcare facilities, always a thorn to be reckoned with, are now contributing to a rising death toll as scores of people, mainly children, fall victim to diarrhoea and pneumonia. (AP) (Agenzia Fides 07/01/2015)


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