Post-flood: As winter descends, fresh fears surface

Lack of resources may lead to pneumonia; NDMA says most people have returned to their homes.


Maha Mussadaq November 08, 2010

ISLAMABAD: With the onset of winter, UN agencies fear lack of funding could lead to greater threats for flood victims in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan.

According to UN agencies, water has receded in the north and people are returning to damaged and destroyed homes and infrastructure. Due to scarce funds, there are bigger challenges such as shortages of food and shelter, which may lead to health epidemics.

“Although we are short on funding we are trying to prepare for food supplies in the north,” said Amjad Jamal World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson. “We have stocks for about one month, but we will continue to distribute them by adopting a half-ration strategy by December.  In the meantime, WFP is continuing its efforts to get more funding,” Jamal added.

A shortage of food may lead to the spread of pneumonia.  The World Health Organisation (WHO) has converted diarrheal centres set up in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P)and northern Punjab into Acute Respiratory Infection Centres. “We need to find new partners to help us prevent pneumonia. This could be a serious threat, especially for the children,” said Gul Afridi from WHO.

Agencies say shelter is also a severe problem for those who have returned to their villages, as well as those who are still in relief camps.  “We do require more funds for supplying kits to protect people in the winter, particularly in the north,” Saleem Rehmat from the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) told The Express Tribune.

“Our second biggest challenge is to access people at the right time,” said Rehmat. “The donors have to come up quickly and deliver as quickly as possible,” he added.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, Idrees Mehsud, an official of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said that the majority of people have now returned to their areas of origin, especially in K-P and the Gilgit-Baltistan (G-B). “To cater to the problem, we have issued a policy to protect people from the harsh weather, particularly in K-P and G-B,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 8th, 2010.

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