Two months after the Salta government declared a social health emergency in three departments of the province after the death of several girls and boys from malnutrition
, hunger continues unabated.
Yesterday, a boy of one year and six months died with a sepsis and low weight in the hospital of Santa Victoria Este, one of the most critical areas.
In the context of the quarantine that the country is going through in the face of the coronavirus pandemic, community leaders
warn of the risk that these cases “will be forgotten again”.
As confirmed to LA NACION from the Ministry of Health of Salta, the boy was from the La Curvita community and entered the hospital with fever and seizures at 1.50 on Tuesday, where he had a cardiorespiratory arrest.
Although they did resuscitation maneuvers, he died at 3.30.
Organizations that work in the territory indicated to this medium that the child belonged to the Chorote ethnic group. On the other hand, official sources added that on August 23
he had been hospitalized for gastroenteritis
“with a favorable evolution” and that he had not returned to control until he entered the hospital yesterday, in critical condition. On March 5 and 12, they assured, he had been controlled by a health agent in his community.
The secretary of health, Antonio de Los Ríos, confirmed that “e
The boy arrived at dawn with a very advanced picture of fever and seizures “and lamented what happened
. He also emphasized that “in the area there is an enormous work of organizations, province and nation, and it hurts us a lot that has happened to us, we came from many weeks recovering young children and working hard. It was a hard blow that we had.
They are high risk families and many times we cannot arrive on time. ”
With regard to the actions initiated after the declaration of the socio-sanitary emergency in January, the official assured that, in the context of the quarantine, they continue as planned. “There is a new team from the province working in the area, there is the Red Cross, there is the Army, there is Unicef. Work in the field continues. There is a political decision to do it and we will continue doing it until the day we leave the public function: we are not going to neglect the area, “said de Los Ríos.
However, sources linked to the Santa Victoria hospital and community leaders indicated that the situation continues to be critical, and that it worsened in the context of the pandemic.
“The ambulances and medical equipment that had been made available to the hospital when the emergency was declared in January, were now destined to attend to the COVID-19 pandemic and
Santa Victoria was left with a single ambulance again.
The hospital is attending with guards and the energy that had started to be poured down a lot, “said a source who asked that his identity be protected.
A chronic emergency
Elisabeth Ferrer is a doctor, since 1985 she works with communities in Salta and in December she retired as a teacher at the university in that province. ”
I am very concerned that the current situation we are going through through COVID-19 covers other things.
The government declared a social health emergency at the end of January with the first cases of deaths from malnutrition, for 180 days and with the possibility of extending it for 90 days, but many of the actions have not been carried out, “said the doctor. “The communities are receiving food bags, which sometimes do not arrive due to the rain, but what worries us the most is the lack of clean water.”
As for the case that was disclosed yesterday, Ferrer emphasized: “The death of another boy from sepsis and low weight shows that the measures that were taken are insufficient and that things must be sped up. The communities already they are isolated in themselves and now with COVID-19 they are even more isolated. ”
The specialist emphasizes that the low weight puts the boys in a situation of permanent risk, because it puts them in check “their immune response”
. “Although a child is not with a nutritional deficit that implies an immediate hospitalization, that does not mean that he is not much more vulnerable than another with a normal weight and that he does not require care, follow-up and continuous visits. Less living in a situation where the conditions of Sanitation is not the basic one, “summarized Ferrer.
According to a recent study coordinated by Ferrer and carried out by a group of professionals from the University of Salta -product of the Salud Investiga Abraam Sonis scholarship, awarded by the Ministry of Health of the Nation-, mortality rates in children under five years of the area of Santa Victoria Este (31.94 per 1000 live births) tripled those of the Nation and those of the province. On the other hand, that of infant mortality (deaths in children under one year) is doubled.
“Lack of iron, calcium, protein and essential nutrients
It is causing a deterioration of health at all ages, but children, being the most vulnerable, are the ones that die in a greater proportion. With an immunological state depressed by malnutrition, any microorganism causes a disease that ends up being serious “,
Ferrer concluded.
FURTHER
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Publicado en el diario La Nación
