15 children die in Bangladesh cold snap, Church steps in
Dhaka, Bangladesh, 31 December 2013: With the arrival of the first cold snap, at least
15 children have died in the northern districts of Bangladesh. "Over the past five
days we have registered more than 100 hospitalizations, all children with pneumonia".
The victims are under two years of age, said the hospital director of Rongpur, Rezaul
Karim.
Another 50 children were admitted to the Kurigram Sadar Hospital. One
of the management Nazrul Islam , fears that the number could increase in the coming
days : " It's too cold ." Yesterday a temperature of -11 degrees Celsius was registered
in the district, while today it has risen to -9 . Unfortunately, forecasts are for
a further worsening in the next week .
The cold wave , says Islam , brings
with it pneumonia , asthma and other respiratory complications : "Only yesterday we
admitted 141 people because of complications from the cold. And a further 800 are
being cared for in the day hospital". Dr. Lokman Hakim is working to reduce the ranks
of those who are waiting for admission: "We have trained 85 staff physicians to give
first, in order to optimize the time ."
The Catholic Church in Bangladesh is
involved in helping to cope with the emergency. Danis Baskey , regional director of
Caritas , said: " We are distributing more than 2 thousand blankets and warm clothing
for the children and to those who need it ."The Society of St. Vincent de 'Paul is
also on the ground: their volunteers are collecting clothes among parishioners to
be distributed to the local poor, he added.