The Pakistan Pediatric Association (PPA) has drawn attention of the United Nations Secretary General Antonio Guterres towards the plight of children in Gaza (Palestine), exposed to unprecedented assault and human rights violations.
The PPA office-bearers comprising senior child specialists from across the country, in a letter to the UN chief, reminded him that Gaza in particular and Palestine in general were frequently reported as sites that were already afflicted and tormented with disease burden and high mortality rates.
They emphasized that as per ground realities, also highlighted through electronic and social media, young children, both directly and indirectly, in Palestine were suffering and it was now upon the world authorities and bodies to raise their voice against the atrocities and in support of the sufferers in particular. It was reiterated that in recent past similar carnage were also witnessed in the Indian occupied Kashmir, Syria and Myanmar with negative impact on mental and physical well-being of the children belonging to those war zones.
The PPA officials emphasized that it had been a long drawn-battle to fight the menace of poverty, malnutrition, vaccine preventable diseases as well as non-communicable diseases that had plagued the children of the world, to improve their health and bring down their mortality.
For decades, they said, various organizations, including the United Nations, World Health Organization, International Pediatric Association and Human Rights Association were mentioned to have been trying to bring equity among children belonging to under privileged parts of the globe with series of programmes initiated by UNICEF and other national and international agencies focused on affected children groups pertaining to developing countries.–PR
