Pakistan: Need of mammoth health supplies to halt flood-sparked diseases

Scores of flood affected Pakistanis stand in need of essential medical care that requires huge supplies of medicines, equipments and other specific materials to attend their health needs as acknowledging the gravity of the situation in flood hit areas of Pakistan, UN has warned today that Waterborne diseases continue to pose great risk to millions of people affected by the devastating floods in Pakistan.

"As many as 3.5 million children in affected areas may now be at risk of diseases carried through contaminated water and insects." says UN Children's Fund (UNICEF). Floods have already damaged the existing health infrastructure, according to WHO, some 6 million displaced people faced high risk of waterborne diseases while 96 health facilities across the country had fallen prey to flooding with tons of medicines lost.

Now the funds required for emergency health care seem to go far beyond the preliminary estimates of about $56 million and amount of $14 million to ensure proper nutrition for children under the age of five, and for pregnant or lactating women also appears an underestimate.

Surveillance data from 56 out of 62 flood affected districts from all provinces of Pakistan pronounce skin diseases, acute watery diarrhoea, and acute respiratory infections as the main causes of morbidity in flood affected communities and infection of skin and eyes are also prevalent while Malaria could pose a major threat as mosquitoes breed in the stagnant flood water.

The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said that acute diarrhoea is the leading cause of illness and accounted for nearly one in five patient visits since the floods began.

UN has stressed on ensuring the quality of drinking water and enhancing public access to health facilities to control water borne diseases, and added, there is a tremendous need for more medical and related materials to treat people affected by the humanitarian emergency.

"The lack of clean water and the unavailability of medication, in the aftermath of these floods, is a deadly combination. When added to the poor living conditions and the lack of food, which contribute to vulnerability, the picture is gruesome," said Guido Sabatinelli, WHO's representative in Pakistan.

Some $110 million is required to fund efforts for providing water to those affected by the floods according to initial approximation.

Though, according to reports, many pregnant and lactating women had been vaccinated against measles, polio and tetanus in different flood-affected areas a large number of such women remain out of this preventive cover.

WHO had 1,900 facilities operating in Punjab, including 1,000 mobile clinics and it stresses the need to establish mobile clinics for areas with no access to health facilities.

The training sessions for health staff and water supply supervisors on chlorination and disinfection techniques on the pattern of trainings conducted by WHO after floods are need of time. The local health staffers and relief workers equipped with necessary skills will help reduce the outbreak diseases in flood stricken areas.

UN and other national and international relief organization are working with the government of Pakistan to prevent diseases and the country has already started receiving medical and other relief supplies but flood-hit people in flood-affected areas still complain about lack of proper medical care and surveillance data verifies the swelling number of people seeking care. The situation demands for more health supplies including health kits, midwifery kits, water purification tablets and nutrition supplies.