Eight children died on Saturday in Sindh's Tharparkar district due to viral infections and malnutrition, taking the total death count in the region for similar cases to 12 so far in February, sources in Mithi Civil Hospital told DawnNews.

The trend of infant deaths in the region seems to have carried on from January, during which 54 infants below the age of five lost their lives due to various health issues, sources said.

When contacted for confirmation of the death toll, the hospital's civil surgeon, Syed Ameer Ali Shah, chose not to comment, adding that he has been prohibited by high-ups from sharing any data with the media.

Meanwhile, parents of sick children at the Mithi Civil Hospital complained of a lack of medicines at what is the city's only civil hospital. They also accused the doctors and paramedics of being negligent in their duties.

According to data gathered from local health functionaries, Tharparkar has 183 dispensaries, six Rural Health Centers (RHC), nine Basic Health Units (BHU) and two maternity homes that have the staff but do not get funds for the purchase of medicine.

Sources told DawnNews that every dispensary needs Rs40,000, a BHU needs Rs0.1 million, a maternity home needs Rs0.2m and RHCs need Rs0.3m on a monthly basis to provide the most basic of healthcare facilities to the people. But a lack of budget means that the entire burden falls on the Mithi Civil Hospital, sources added.

"The health department has failed to release the required funds to the civil and other hospitals due to which those facilities are also in deep crises," an official said on the condition of anonymity. "The [civil] hospital also owes around 9.6m to private medical stores and petrol pumps."

In August 2017, Government of Sindh's health department had written to the finance department, seeking an allocation in the budget for nonoperational dispensaries and health centres in Tharparkar district.

Dr Mahesh Kumar Malani, the PPP MPA from Thar, confirmed to DawnNews that only 22 health units, which were established in 1992, get operational funds.

The MPA said that he would meet with Chief Minister Sindh Syed Murad Ali Shah and request him to look into the matter, which he said was hampering the sincere efforts of the health department to provide healthcare at village level.

DG Health Sindh Muhammad Akhlaq Khan assured DawnNews that sincere efforts were being made to release the required funds for all health centres, and advised against sensationalising of children's deaths.