ISLAMABAD: Chief Justice Saqib Nisar has taken notice of the death of five children in a hospital of Mithi due to different diseases and food shortage. Justice Saqib Nisar directed the Sindh chief secretary to submit a report on infant deaths in Thar within 36 hours. Justice Nisar took suo moto notice of the issue in March 2017 after a media report highlighted the plight of more than 11,000 ailing children who were brought to six health facilities in Mithi district for treatment since the beginning of this year. The report also drew attention to vulnerabilities pertaining to water crises, healthcare and remoteness in the area as the most crucial factors, exacerbating existing conditions while the affected children’s parents complained of lack of facilities at hospitals. Tharparkar District Health Officer Dr Akhlaq Ahmed told a private TV channel that 9,187 infants had been admitted to six facilities across the district out of which 98 children below five lost lives while 145 were referred to teaching hospitals in Karachi and Hyderabad. Akhlaq was uncertain, however, whether those referred to the other hospitals had died or survived on their way to hospitals. He confirmed that he had sent a detailed report to his superiors after the Supreme Court took notice of the infant deaths.
