A 10-month-old baby girl has died of malnutrition in Kalikot district. Nirusha Hamal of Dhaulagoha-6, who was admitted at Kalikot District Hospital following the severe malnutrition, died in course of treatment on Friday evening. This is the third malnutrition-caused death in the district in past six months. 

The girl had been admitted to the district hospital on Wednesday. 

“We could not save the girl. It was already too late by the time she was brought to the hospital,” said Dr Kaushal Ali, the chief of the District Health Office. 

Nirusha was admitted to the district hospital on the referral of Syuna Health Post. She weighed only 5 kg when and had been suffering from fever. The girl’s parents, Dil Bahadur and Kalpana, live as daily wage workers in India. 

“We started feeding her packaged milk when she was three-months-old because breastfeeding alone was not enough. Despite our attempts to keep her healthy, she continued to grow frail,” the father said.   

Health officials said they could have saved Nirusha’s life if her parents her brought to the hospital in time. 

“Clearly, the girl’s parents did not consider seeking medical help until the last hour,” said Mira Shahi at the district hospital. In November 2016, 14-month-old Sushila Yogi of Sipkhana-6 and one-year-old Kopila Pharsal of Syuna-9 had died of malnutrition.

Katak Bahadur Mahat, the nutrition officer at the district health office, said 573 children have been diagnosed with severe malnutrition in the last nine months. 

“Two hundred twenty-seven children recovered following treatment while 303 are in recovery,” said Mahat. “The conditions of the remaining children are unknown as their parents discontinued the treatment.”

Officials say 668 children suffer from mild form of malnutrition and 2,364 from minor malnutrition in Kailali.