Some 380,000 people affected in Chitral

NHEPRN reports says local admin is facing acute shortage of medicines

ISLAMABAD: Apart from claiming 36 lives and injuring a dozen, the recent floods in Chitral have also affected a population of around 380,000 people, the four per cent of which comprises pregnant women.

According to a report compiled by the National Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Network (NHEPRN), the post-flood situation in Chitral is worsening due to the scarcity of resources and closure of roads due to massive landslides.

Sharing the details of the report, the NHEPRN’s Deputy Director Operation Dr Sabina Durrani told The Express Tribune that the local administration is facing acute shortage of medicines and does not have vaccines for snake or dog bite.

“Their entire year’s stock of medicine is almost finished and currently the local administration urgently needs it as there are chances of an outbreak of various diseases,” she said.

Contaminated drinking water

Dr Durrani said the people of Chitral are also forced to drink contaminated water and are at risk of suffering from water-borne diseases such as Hepatitis A, E, thyroid, diarrhoea, and gastroenteritis.

“To deal with the situation, the NHEPRN in collaboration with the World Health Organisation (WHO) has distributed a few water purification pills among the residents of the area.  However, it is not a permanent solution,” she said.

Relief activities

She said it is estimated that 80 per cent of the areas have been cut off from the main city of Chitral which is creating difficulty in relief activities for the people living in far-flung areas.

“Currently army is carrying out major relief activities by using helicopters, however, the local administration is facing acute shortage of logistics to access the population living in the remote areas,” she said.

She said it has become a big challenge for the medical teams to access population living in narrow valleys, adding that majority of the patients are being shifted to the local hospitals through helicopters.

Carcasses of animals

She said a large number of animals have died in the floods and their decaying bodies are lying everywhere.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 13^th, 2015.