Infant mortality in Thar cannot be controlled unless underage marriages are curbed: Pechuho.

MITHI -- Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Pechuho, who visited various government health facilities in Chhachhro and Dahli talukas of Tharparkar district on Saturday, held underage marriages mainly responsible for the high rate of infant mortality in the region. She said parents should be educated on the issue and underage marriages must be discouraged to control the situation.

The minister was speaking to local journalists after inspecting the working and facilities being offered to patients at hospitals in the two talukas.

She made it clear that birth of underweight babies and their deaths would continue until and unless parents stopped marrying off their underage daughters. She observed that parents and their children in Thar mostly lacked such knowledge which was leading to complications and infant mortality.

Dr Pechuho stressed the need for adopting methods of birth control and spacing in bearing babies on the part of rural families.

She asked media personnel to report happenings and issues sensibly and responsibly with regard to the healthcare situation and infants' deaths in the desert district in order to present a 'true' picture. This, she said, would help both the Sindh government and the non-governmental organisations working in health sector to address issues.

'Correct reporting of happenings and problems being faced by people will help us find the root cause of the issues and act promptly to provide relief to them, she said.

She noted that there were multiple reasons behind the mess persisting in this region for a few years.

The health minister pointed out that the provincial government, in collaboration with Unicef, was posting trained personnel, including nurses, at 65...