ISLAMABAD: The country’s one-third of land has been submerged due to torrential rains and flash floods and it has been causing health complications among the affected people, particularly in children and women.
In an exclusive talk with APP on Thursday, Senior Medical Officer and Child Specialist Dr Nasrullah Sabki was alarmed that the fatality rate could rise if health issues were not resolved in the flood-affected areas timely.
He said due to the stagnant water, skin infection was a common disease being reported in all age groups of people in the flood-hit areas. However, the accumulated water and unhygienic environment had also multiplied the growth of flies and mosquitoes which were the main source of malaria, dengue, typhoid, gastro, cholera, hepatitis A and food poisoning, he added.
He said the flood-affected people should use boiled water for drinking purposes if they wanted to protect themselves from gastro, cholera, typhoid, food poisoning, hepatitis A and other water-borne diseases.
He said due to dilapidated infrastructure, the pregnant women had no access to the hospital therefore they must be provided with nearby health facilities so that they could give birth to babies.
Appreciating the government, Pakistan Army, and non-profitable organizations’ health activities in the affected areas, Dr. Sabki said the medical teams were not sufficient enough to cope with this catastrophic situation. He said a large number of medical teams must be dispatched to every nook and cranny of the affected areas along with medicines and medical supplies to save the people’s health and lives.
Besides health ministries, he proposed the government in the center and provinces launch an aggressive media campaign to educate the people about precautions they should take in this critical situation to avert the burgeoning health complications.
He asked the quarters concerned to make all-out efforts to drain the rainwater from the residential and commercial units and start a fumigation drive to overcome the further breeding of flies and mosquitoes in the affected areas. The people must be provided mosquito nets besides other necessities of life, he added.
He urged the government and non-government organizations to further enhance their relief work, especially in the health sector in the flood-ravaged areas at this trying time.
