Health emergency: Hundreds hospitalised after cholera outbreak

Victims had been consuming water from a contaminated spring.

SWABI:

Around 130 people suffering from cholera and gastroenteritis in Swabi district’s Takeel village were rushed to tehsil and district headquarters (DHQ) hospitals on Tuesday.

According to Executive District Officer (EDO) Dr Gul Muhammad Khan, the victims had been drinking water from a contaminated spring in the area, leading to the outbreak. He added that the area was a remote village in Gadoon, where people lack healthcare and educational facilities.

Gul said the district health department has dispatched a medical mobile unit along with an ambulance to contain the outbreak. He maintained it was the responsibility of basic health units (BHU) in Ghani Chatra and Ghabasini – the village’s adjacent areas – but they have not been provided a staff by the government yet.

“If the BHUs had staff, the number of people we had to vaccinate would have been less,” he added.

Mukhtiar Khan, an administrative official in Topi’s Tehsil Headquarters Hospital said more than 35 cholera patients had been admitted so far.

“We vaccinate the victims, try to control their dehydration... if their condition is serious, they are transferred to the DHQ hospital,” he informed. The official added that despite lacking in facilities, they were extending all possible medical care to the patients.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 8^th, 2012.