Balochistan plagued by stomach ailments

Spokesperson says around 3,000 people are affected by cholera, gastroenteritis and diarrhoea

QUETTA:

Endemic diseases like cholera, gastro-enteritis and diarrhoea affected around 3,000 people over the last week, as the Balochistan government announced emergency in all the 16 districts hit by the ailments on Monday.

Spokesperson Farah Azeem Shah confirmed to The Express Tribune, Zhob was worst affected district, where 2,200 cases of cholera have been detected. She added that Barkhan, Kohlu, Wadh Khuzdar had also been hit hard by cholera and diarrhoea.

“These diseases have affected 16 districts of Balochistan”, Shah told The Express Tribune. “Emergency has been declared in all government-run hospitals to provide timely medical treatment to the patients,” she added.

The district health officer (DHO) Zhob said that the main hospital in the district was packed with cholera patients. When asked about the death toll from the disease in the district, he said nine people, including three children, had died.

Meanwhile, Balochistan Health Secretary Saleh Muhammad Nasar visited the district headquarters hospital Zhob. He directed the DHO and medical superintendent of the hospital to install UPS in the hospital to address the issue of power outages.

Talking to The Express Tribune, the health secretary stressed the need for cleanliness. “Sewerage water mixed with water supply in Zhob,” Nasar said. “The government is trying to create awareness among the people to clean their water tanks.”

The outbreak of cholera had already claimed precious human lives in Balochistan’s Dera Bugti district. Dr Asghar Marri, the medical superintendent of the government hospital in Kohlu, complained of a lack of medicines.

Shah, the government spokesperson, said that the government had dispatched special teams and medicines to the cholera-stricken districts. “The Balochistan chief minister has taken serious notice of the situation”, she added.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2022.