When the present is haunting and the future darkening- the quiet theft has won. To waste life away and to choke a child’s breath before it ever truly lived is a misery which creeps into a cradle as acute malnutrition.

To glimpse what is out of reach, is a distressing display of hopelessness. When a ten-month-old infant named Halema arrived at the hospital in Peshawar, her fragile body weighed merely six kilograms- unnatural for an average infant. She was diagnosed to be dying of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM). In accordance with quick action, a medical miracle revealed itself through clinical stabilization for dehydration and underlying infection, rehabilitation via high-calorie Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), and maintenance paired with maternal education. While Halema snuck out of the near-fatal experience, others may not be so lucky. Our children are forced to become the ghosts that vaporise into nothingness. The war of neglect and innocence is a catastrophic exhibition. An ordeal of slow poisoning.

Child malnutrition is making its way to orchestrate the utter shambles our nation is diving into. It poses a severe risk. The conditions include deficiencies, excesses, stunting, and........

© Pakistan Observer