Thousands of children in regions devastated by South Asia's earthquake are at risk of death from cold, malnutrition and disease, UNICEF said, according to AP. The U.N. agency said the international relief effort must focus on keeping children alive in the weeks ahead. It said it was sending high protein biscuits, boots and sweaters for children, blankets, water containers, plastic tarpaulins, tents, medical supplies and blankets to affected areas. «With wintry conditions arriving in the higher elevations, children are facing a potentially deadly combination of cold, malnutrition, and disease,» UNICEF Executive Director Ann Veneman said in a statement from New York on Thursday. «Most housing has been destroyed in the hardest-hit areas, so the survival of thousands of young children is now at stake,» Veneman said. Routine immunization coverage in the quake zone is about 60 percent for young children, so hundreds of thousands are unprotected against deadly diseases such as measles, UNICEF said. It said it was sending Vitamin A to the region to boost immune systems of children, who are more vulnerable to measles if weakened by exposure and malnutrition. Nearly half of those affected are younger than 18, the agency said. The Oct. 8 earthquake killed tens of thousands in northwest Pakistan and in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir. India reported more than 1,300 deaths in its portion of Kashmir.
