Pakistan

Water-borne diseases common among victims

Fazil Banda is one of the areas worst hit by water that left inhabitants with a score of water-borne diseases.

Fazal Khaliq September 29, 2010

SWAT: Although flood water has receded in several areas, the miseries of those stricken by the tragedy are far from over. Fazil Banda, an area of Gwalerai nearly 20 km from Matta, is one of the areas worst hit by water that left inhabitants with a score of water-borne diseases.

A free medical camp set up by Sarhad Rural Support Programme (SRSP) - a no-profit organisation in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, and supported by the Pakistan Army, is swarmed by a large number of people, a majority of whom are women and children suffering from such diseases.

Luqmania, a woman with a three-year-old daughter who was waiting in a queue for check-up told The Express Tribune pathetically, “My entire family is ill and suffering from chest infection, fever and diarrhoea. There is no dispensary or hospital in this area while the flood wiped out all the bridges due to which we cannot go to another area for help.”

Husan Jamala, another female patient with chest infection and high fever, said, “I was at God’s mercy because nobody came to help as my infection grew day by day. However after hearing about this camp, I came here immediately. The doctors and the other staff are very good and we are thankful to them.”

Dr Mehwish, one of the doctors working at the camp voluntarily, said: “A majority of the cases we are dealing with here are related to water-borne diseases. Urinary tract infections are very common in females, the major reason of which is contaminated water used in toilets, while diarrhoea and cough are very common in children. We have come across some cases of skin disease as well.”

Mahbooba, a 50-year-old woman seemed relaxed after getting treatment and medicines from the camp. “I have digestion problem and also cannot hear properly. I was being treated at a hospital before the floods where doctors prescribed me expensive medicines and asked me to come for a second check-up. But due to the flood I could not continue my treatment. In this camp I got better treatment with free medicines for which I am grateful to these people who have set up the camp,” she said.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2010.

COMMENTS (1)

Jonaid Iqbal | 14 years ago | Reply Ref the above story, here is a clip I received from a friend in Dhaka Bangladesh : Dengue Fever Remedy I would like to share this interesting discovery from a classmate's son who has just recovered from dengue fever. Apparently, his son was in the critical stage at the ICU when his blood platelet count drops to 15 after 15 liters of blood transfusion. His father was so worried that he seeks another friend's recommendation and his son was saved. He confessed to me that he gave his son raw juice of the papaya leaves. From a platelet count of 45 after 20 liters of blood transfusion, and after drinking the raw papaya leaf juice, his platelet count jumps instantly to 135. Even the doctors and nurses were surprised. After the second day he was discharged. So he asked me to pass this good news around. Accordingly it is raw papaya leaves, 2pcs just cleaned and pound and squeeze with filter cloth. You will only get one tablespoon per leaf.. So two tablespoon per serving once a day. Do not boil or cook or rinse with hot water, it will loose its strength. Only the leafy part and no stem or sap. It is very bitter and you have to swallow it like "Won Low Kat". But it works. Papaya Juice - Cure for Dengue You may have heard this elsewhere but if not I am glad to inform you that papaya juice is a natural cure for dengue fever. As dengue fever is rampant now, I think it's good to share this with all. A friend of mine had dengue last year.. It was a very serious situation for her as her platelet count had dropped to 28,000 after 3 days in hospital and water has started to fill up her lung. She had difficulty in breathing. She was only 32-year old. Doctor says there's no cure for dengue. We just have to wait for her body immune system to build up resistance against dengue and fight its own battle. She already had 2 blood transfusion and all of us were praying very hard as her platelet continued to drop since the first day she was admitted. Fortunately her mother-in-law heard that papaya juice would help to reduce the fever and got some papaya leaves, pounded them and squeeze the juice out for her. The next day, her platelet count started to increase, her fever subside. We continued to feed her with papaya juice and she recovered after 3 days!!! Amazing but it's true. It's believed one's body would be overheated when one is down with dengue and that also caused the patient to have fever papaya juice has cooling effect. Thus, it helps to reduce the level of heat in one's body, thus the fever will go away. I found that it's also good when one is having sore throat or suffering from heat. Please spread the news about this as lately there are many dengue cases. It's great if such natural cure could help to ease the sufferings of dengue patients. Furthermore it's so easily available. Blend them and squeeze the juice! It's simple and miraculously effective!!

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