KARACHI: An estimated 500 people have left the Gizri camp over the past two days, city government officials said. However, this is the tip of the ice berg as Karachi is housing 82,465 people in about 55 official camps.
The city district government issued certificates for people returning home and buses were arranged for them. Many people are going back by train free of charge as well. In a bid to bring them into the loop, the CDGK has set up a booth at Cantt station for the internally displaced people.
According to the health department, 600 medical camps have been set up across the province and more than 1.2 million people have been treated. About 1,200 children have been born in camps over the last month. About 3.1 million children have been vaccinated. Around four million rupees has been spent on their food each day. In Hyderabad, three million rupees is being spent on food each day.
The health department has set up 441 medical camps and 155 mobile camps across the province, where around 214,420 patients arrived with complaints of diarrhoea, 39,637 with gastroenteritis, 155,795 with malaria, 229,445 with skin diseases, 89,354 with eye infection, 4,355 with heat stroke, 380 with snake bites and 348,891 people arrived with other complaints. Around 1,267 babies were also born at these medical camps.
There was a report that a small boy died of gastroenteritis in Landhi Town on Monday. One-year-old Abid Lashari had come from Shahdadkot and was living in UC 7.
In the meanwhile, a Belgian government chartered aircraft carrying emergency relief items dispatched by the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) will arrive in Karachi with Belgian Development Cooperation Minister Charles Michel, who will visit relief camps in Thatta.
The Belgian government provided free air freight to support Unicef’s humanitarian operations in Pakistan.
“Unicef greatly appreciates the logistical assistance, which will enable us bolster our humanitarian interventions in Pakistan,” said Martin Mogwanja, a Unicef representative in Pakistan. “Air cargo has water and vaccination supplies that are critical for the lives of children and women.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 14th, 2010.
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