Hundreds of Pneumonia cases reported in quake hit areas
Health officials in Pakistan have said that hundreds of people, most of them children, had contracted pneumonia in the earthquake-stricken areas of Pakistan-controlled
A three-member health team has been sent to Darbang and Nariola villages to evaluate the situation and more teams were expected to arrive from Islamabad in a day or two.
Pneumonia and other cold-related diseases are fairly common in the winter but this year the number of patients suffering from such diseases has swelled as compared to previous years, Khan said.
“This is because winter is much more intense this year and because most of the survivors do not have adequate shelter or clothing,” he said.
“Given the vulnerability of the survivors in the freezing cold, such cases are bound to increase, but we are prepared to cope with the situation,” he said.
The health department in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir has urged the federal ministry of health to send reinforcements. Six mobile teams are expected to reach Muzaffarabad by Wednesday evening.
“We will dispatch teams to areas where there are reports of outbreaks of cold-related diseases,” he added.
Pakistan-controlled Kashmir received its first harsh winter weather at the weekend with up to 8 inches of snowfall at high altitudes and up to 1.2 inches (32 mm) of rain in lower areas. Relief operations resumed on Monday after the weather cleared and continued on Tuesday, but the weather conditions remain cold in the area.
The United Nations and local health authorities denied the reports of the cold-related deaths on Monday, although a doctor told a UN news agency that he witnessed one death in the village of Nariola.
“This information is not confirmed as yet. The health department teams are evaluating the situation,” said World Health Organization team leader in Muzaffarabad Dr Umar Saleh.
“A child death of pneumonia is always expected in such conditions. This is what we are preparing to cope with. But the mortality rate has decreased below the safe level,” he told the Pakistani daily Dawn.
Separately, the health officer with the United Nations children’s fund UNICEF Taimur Mueenuddin said that there had not been any confirmation of cold-related deaths.
“It is a little bit too early to speak about the consequences of the cold weather because it has just started,” he said.
UN officials were however concerned about the increasing vulnerability of the earthquake survivors who don’t have shelter.
“We certainly haven’t provided shelter to everybody. It’s increasing peoples’ vulnerability and we are very much concerned about it,” said Pat Duggan, head of the United Nations office for the coordination of humanitarian affairs in Muzaffarabad.
(Aki/DAWN)
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