IRIN
PAKISTAN: Netherlands military hospital operational
10 November 2005


[This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United 
Nations]

BAGH, 10 November (IRIN) - As part of NATO's assistance to 
earthquake-devastated northern Pakistan, the first military field 
hospital from the Netherlands began operating on Wednesday in the 
central Bagh district of Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

"Starting from a 40-bed in-patient care facility, the medical facility 
will provide care in the areas of general surgery, obstetrics, 
paediatrics and dentistry," Dr Chris Bleeker, an anaesthetist in charge 
of the operating theatre, said on Wednesday in Bagh town, 200 km north 
of from Pakistani capital, Islamabad.

The first patient was an elderly man with a fractured leg who was 
evacuated four weeks ago from Bagh, and was initially treated at a 
military hospital in Rawalpindi, close to Islamabad. But on Wednesday, 
after being discharged from the medical facility, his leg wound started 
bleeding on return to Bagh.

NATO is airlifting urgently needed supplies to Pakistan and deploying 
engineers, medical units and specialist equipment to assist in relief 
operations after the devastating 8 October earthquake that has killed at 
least 86,000 people and injured more than 100,000.

The NATO relief operation has been launched through two air bridges, 
from Germany and Turkey. More than 70 flights have airlifted over 1,110 
mt of supplies, including thousands of tents, stoves and blankets 
necessary to protect millions of survivors from the cold.

In addition, NATO is in the process of deploying more than 1,000 
specialist troops, mainly engineers and medical units to assist in the 
relief effort.

The Dutch field hospital is staffed by over 160 personnel, mainly from 
medical and engineering fields, along with some staff for security and 
safety purposes. However, more nurses and doctors from the UK, the Czech 
Republic and Macedonia will join the medical facility next week.

Dutch mobile medical teams, each with around 8 to 10 members, have 
already been helping patients in areas around Bagh since the team 
arrived last week from the northern Afghan city of Mazar-e Sharif, 
Bleeker said. The medical teams are equipped with three ambulances and 
several 4x4 vehicles to get to mountainous villages.

Almost 80 percent of the health infrastructure in Bagh has been damaged 
by the earthquake, according to local government.

The NATO hospital is the second field hospital in Bagh, after 
Belgium-based Medicines Sans Frontiers (MSF) opened an emergency medical 
facility in the area in the days after the attack.

As part of the ongoing relief efforts for quake-victims in Pakistan, the 
Netherlands has contributed at least US $50 million worth of equipment, 
including 500 winterised tents with capacity for 8 to 10 people, 500 
heaters, 5,000 blankets, 500 mattresses and 120 stretchers.

On Tuesday, together with the International Organization for Migration 
(IOM), the United Nations Joint Logistics Centre (UNJLC) and the 
UK-based Islamic Relief NGO as implementing partners, the tents have 
been lifted to remote mountain villages in Haveli, a district of Bagh.


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Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 
2005


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