By Pang Li

"Presently milk powder is not available here and the relief food is not suitable for my little boy. I cannot get water to wash him, nor diapers to change him. My baby is suffering!" Su Bangqiong, an earthquake victim from the epicenter town of Yingxiu cried while holding her nine-month old child. "If the situation goes on like this, my child is going to die," she said, beseeching others for help.

Many infants are experiencing similar suffering in quake-hit areas around Sichuan Province. Due to the food shortages, many nursing mothers there cannot produce enough breast milk. Meanwhile, baby food, like milk powder, is rarely available. Many infants are suffering from hunger.

In Yingxiu, an old man said that his newborn grandson (less than 1 month old) had subsisted on mineral water for two days because his mother could not produce any milk. He tried to persuade rescue workers to carry his infant grandson to more food-efficient areas by helicopter but they did not reach a consensus.

Duan Rong, another man from the town, said that the local government had just sent them bottled water, biscuits, instant noodles and various foodstuffs but few of the nutrients were suitable for infants. "Under such terrible circumstances, small children, shocked by the earthquake, have no appetite for regular food. They desperately need high nutrition foods," he added.

In Guankou, a town adjacent to Yingxiu, staff members of the local relief goods distribution center said that they could not provide baby supplies or women’s necessities to local earthquake victims due to very limited supplies.

There were only 670 bags of milk powder as of May 16 in the Dujiangyan relief goods distribution center. A supervisor there revealed that the recent focus was to guarantee the very basic needs of the survivors but so far little consideration had been given to infants. The supervisor complained that no one really knew specifically what was needed because clear information channels had not yet been established. The supervisor requested that earthquake victims notify local relief goods distribution centers of their needs so that the volunteers could supply whatever was necessary.

(China.org.cn May 19, 2008)