UNICEF to help establish 10 tent hospitals
The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government has finalized planning for the establishment of 10 field hospitals in flood-hit districts of the province with the assistance of Unicef, official sources said on Thursday.
“All the needed stuff has been acquired, however due to non-availability of skilled staff at local level to establish such hospitals, the authorities have sought manpower to install these makeshift hospitals,” an official said.
The recent devastating floods damaged 256 healthcare facilities in Swat, Kohistan, Chitral, Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts, of which 56 were completely swept away by the floodwaters. This disrupted healthcare coverage for the local people.
The health directorate sources said construction of the damaged and destroyed hospitals will take time, owing to which 10 hotspot areas have been identified for the establishment of field hospitals which will be established in tents.
Providing protection from all kinds of weather effects, UNICEF has donated these tent-hospitals that would cover an area of around 4,000 square meters.
The makeshift hospitals would be established in Dera Ismail Khan, Swat and Kohistan in the first phase.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 7th, 2022.