WHO assures assistance in essential healthcare in flood- affected areas

World Health Organization’s (WHO) Country Representative Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala on Saturday said that essential healthcare services will be provided in flood-affected areas.

During a media briefing on the WHO’s role in relief efforts in flood-hit areas, he said that WHO was working on a plan to aid in establishing effective healthcare systems.
The WHO country director stated that his agency was fully aware of the destruction brought on by the recent floods in Pakistan, stressing that the flood seriously harmed the delivery of health-care services, leading to a variety of health hazards.

He continued by saying that numerous diseases like cholera, malaria, dengue fever, skin infections, and typhoid were on the rise in the impacted areas.

“In order to prevent mortality due to malaria, WHO is providing rapid diagnostic kits and anti-malarial medicines worth $2.5 million while technical support is also being provided to the federal and provincial governments to deal with malaria outbreaks. As larvicidal preventive measures are not possible in flood-affected areas, prophylactic treatment and post-exposure treatments are being arranged to treat malaria patients”, he added.
WHO will hire an additional 107 technical specialists and staff to help manage the health emergency in Pakistan’s flood-affected regions.