Flood victims

[Lahore_Real_Estate]

Women and children most vulnerable to diseases

KARACHI: Women and children at the flood relief camps are the most vulnerable to the spread of diseases, Aga Khan University (AKU) Division of Maternal and Child Health Chairman Dr Zulfiqar Bhutta said.

“Pakistan already has poor maternal and child health indicators and diarrhoea, respiratory illnesses and skin infections will attack the weakest,” he said.

He said that AKU is running centres and camps in Khairpur, Karachi, Mitiari, Naushero Feroze, Sukkur in Sindh and Osta Muhammad in Balochistan, focusing on treating pregnant women, those ready to deliver as well as newborn infants and young children.

“A 13-member AKU team is running an outpatient clinic and emergency room at the Osta Muhammad Labour Hospital as well as visiting IDP camps further afield, treating several hundred patients,” he said.

Over the last few days, members of the team have travelled by boat to Shaiful Shah Ghandkha, on the periphery of the district, where 2,000 IDPs are currently taking shelter, he said, adding, “Working in open-air and using charpoys and tables to examine people, the team is treating over 200 patients a day.”

He said that at the medical camp in Village That Guraho, Naushero Feroze, operational since August 21, over 55 percent patients were women, who were suffering from severe diarrhoea and water-borne skin infections, while many of the pregnant women required antenatal care.

Talking about the relief work in Thatta he said, project staff and volunteers from AKU’s Department of Community Health Sciences evacuated villagers from Darro, Mir Pur Bathoro and Mir Pur Sakro talukas in Thatta District after flood warnings were issued by the Sindh government. “To this day, over 135 staff and 200 community volunteers of the Department’s Global Network for Women’s and Children’s Health Research project continue to offer basic health services to over 150 patients every day,” he said.

While discussing the affiliations with the international community, he said that the World Organisation of Family Doctors (Wonca) has launched an appeal to its 120 member organisations in 99 countries on behalf of AKU, the College of Family Medicine, Pakistan and the Pakistan Society of Family Physicians to help in their flood relief efforts. In addition, the US National Library of Medicine and other partners have activated the Emergency Access Initiative that will allow temporary free access to emergency-related literature to those involved in flood relief, he added.

“Most of the camps and centres are staffed by AKU volunteers who have also contributed a day’s salary to the relief efforts, which sums up to over Rs 7.9 million. AKU aims to extend its relief efforts to four more districts including Dadu, Shikarpur, Kashmore, and Jacobabad within the next 10 days,” said Dr Bhutta.

“We are actively seeking health workers willing to join us in this task. Funding support from USAID is also underway which will not only strengthen the efforts, but will also augment the pace of the activities,” Bhutta added.

AKU Department of Paediatric and Child Health Dr Muhammad Shafaat Shah said the problems of poverty, ignorance of basic hygiene practices, lack of clean water and sanitation are apparent on top of which most children are not immunised and are malnourished as are most mothers.

“Most children are brought in with diarrhoea and severe dehydration, and we are left thinking that even if they survive this and return, will they survive the severe malnutrition that most of them are suffering from,” said Dr Shah, adding that there is no awareness in terms of care during pregnancy or the concept of safe delivery among these people.

It is worth mentioning here that while the Aga Khan University (AKU) is treating patients in flood relief camps throughout Sindh and Baluchistan, the disease wise data of the patients’ has not been collected yet.

The AKU authorities issued the data of the patients treated in the flood relief camps in five districts of Sindh and one district in Baluchistan on Friday, which totals 10,231 patients treated at flood relief camps.

However, a spokesperson of the AKU department of public affairs on condition of anonymity told Daily Times the disease wise data of the patients to ascertain what disease was the biggest threat was not collected. Therefore, it is not possible to ascertain which disease was the most threatening to the vulnerable at the relief camps, especially women and children.