LAHORE: As the Punjab government was investing billions of rupees for the construction of Orange Line Metro Train (OMT) in Lahore, as many as 240,000 children were dying every year in the province due to different childhood diseases.
The situation has deteriorated to such an extent that a child dies after every two minutes in Punjab, reflecting a gloomy picture of the health system.
Pneumonia and diarrhea were among the major causes of child mortality in Punjab, as five million cases of pneumonia were reported every year in the province.
The Punjab government introduced pneumococcal vaccine in October 2012, with a view to develop immunity among children against pneumonia, but this preventable disease still remained the number one infection, killing at least 40,000 infants, 29 percent of the total child deaths in Punjab.
According to official data of the Primary and Secondary Healthcare (P&SHC) Department available with Daily Times, incidents of diarrhea were reported to be highest in the post neo-natal age group, as 30 million were reported all over Punjab. Diarrhea was the second highest killer, claiming at least 23,000 lives of children in Punjab.
Well-informed sources in the P&SHC Department said malnutrition was also contributing in child mortality, as Punjab suffered from high rates of malnutrition. They said 39 percent of children were too short for their age, 30 percent were underweight while 14 percent suffer from acute malnutrition.
Currently, there were about four million malnourished children in Punjab, and about a third of all pregnant women were estimated to have iron deficiency, they informed, adding that malnutrition was a major contributor to infant and maternal deaths in developing countries like Pakistan.
Punjab Health Services Director General Dr Mukhtar Hussain Syed admitted that annually more than five million cases of pneumonia were reported in children. “Pneumonia affects children and families everywhere, but is most prevalent in marginalised population characterised by illiteracy, low economic status and geographically isolated inhabitations,” he informed.
He said the Expanded Programme on Immunisation in Punjab had introduced pneumonia vaccine as part of routine immunisation in 2012, adding that the latest coverage survey reports suggest immunisation coverage above 86 percent, which was much better than other provinces.
In Punjab, a new initiative to provide medical commodities for children suffering with diarrhoea has been initiated in the year 2016. The plan was being pilot tested in five districts with support from UNICEF and Melinda Gates Foundation, he added.
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