Pakistan: Withering souls - Children Dying

It is disgusting to find children dying in Thar and in Sargodha because the Sindh and Punjab governments respectively have been unable to look into the healthcare needs of the people. And when the Chief Ministers (CM) of both provinces weirdly defend themselves or remain silent, the anguish doubles. For the CM Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, children in Thar are not dying of poverty but because of maternity-related complications and malnutrition. Would the CM care to explain how else malnutrition occurs if not from lack of food resulting from poverty? For Shahbaz Sharif, the CM Punjab, the completion of bridges and roads in record time is more important than providing resources for healthcare facilities. He has the time and stamina to work day and night to see to it that his pet projects, laptop distribution, bridges, metros and car schemes are completed in the shortest possible time. But he failed to notice the lapse in the deadline of building a maternity ward in the Maula Baksh Hospital, the only hospital in Sargodha. The 11 children who have died in the District Teaching Hospital (DTH) Sargodha were shifted there from Maula Baksh Hospital for lack of facilities in the latter. But the poor souls had to encounter a dire fate in the DTH, which had five incubators for 20 patients and 25 beds to accommodate 50 children. There was insufficient oxygen supply and the staff, including the doctors, either was sleeping when the children were dying or had little expertise and resources at its disposal to treat the withering souls. Since 2013, 191children have lost their lives because of inadequate and poor health facilities in Punjab, while in Thar the dance of death continues with the number of children’s deaths reaching 300.
It is unfortunate that Pakistan has one of the poorest public healthcare systems. It is spending $ 9.30 against the internationally recommended $ 60 per capita. Pakistan has the third highest number of maternal, foetal and child mortality deaths, with 57 percent of neonatal deaths occurring in the first 72 hours after birth. Governance crises and poor political ownership has retarded progress in women and children’s health in Pakistan. No political party has prioritized reforming healthcare because unlike bridges and laptops, it largely goes unnoticed. It is the responsibility of the state to provide to its citizens food, shelter, education, healthcare and social welfare. This is the minimum a state has to do, and short of it, it loses its raison d’être. We have yet to see the state coming into action in the case of either Thar or Sargodha.