By Hina Kiyani
ISLAMABAD: Health Minister Abdul Qadir Patel on Sunday announced establishing 1,200 medical camps across the country in flood-hit areas as victims now fight water-borne diseases in the affected areas.
The minister said that 1200 medical camps across the country will provide basic health facilities besides also providing medicines and vaccination facilities to the affectees. “We will be providing medicines for skin diseases, eye infection, and diarrhea,” Qadir Patel said.
As many as 400 medical camps will also be established in eight districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Dera Ismail Khan, Peshawar, and Tank, 300 camps will be setup in six districts of Balochistan, and 95 camps in Karachi.
The World Health Organization has raised concerns over the spread of waterborne diseases among flood victims. Nearly half a million flood-displaced people are living in relief camps.
According to the UN Population Fund, 6.4 million flood victims need humanitarian assistance. It said about 650,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas, including 73,000 expected to deliver in the next month, need maternal health services.
Sindh health officials have also raised concerns over the outbreak of waterborne diseases in areas hit by recent record-breaking floods.
According to a report released by Sindh health department, Diarrhoea, skin diseases and eye infections are spreading at relief camps set up by the government across the province.
More than 134,000 diarrhoea cases were reported from Sindh in the past two month, said a report rexeased by the health officials on Saturday.
Similarly, 44,832 malaria cases were found during monsoon rains since June this year, the official stats show.
It added that 101 snake-bite cases have also been reported.
