IRIN
PAKISTAN: New health units established in quake zone
20 June 2006


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

MUZAFFARABAD, 20 June (IRIN) - The World Health Organization (WHO) 
handed out 23 newly constructed Basic Health Units (BHUs) on Saturday to 
health authorities in earthquake-affected Pakistani-administered 
Kashmir.

"All these BHUs - equipped with medicine, supplies and furniture are 
currently operational, but we are giving [them] officially to the 
government to take care of the maintenance and staffing process," Dr 
Khalif Bile, WHO representative in Pakistan, told reporters in 
Muzaffarabad, capital of the Pakistani-administered Kashmir.

"The 23 BHUs will provide basic health services for some 400,000 people 
in Muzaffarabad, Nelum, Bagh and Poonch districts," Bile explained.

Over 75,000 people were killed and thousands more injured after the 
powerful quake of 7.6 magnitude ripped through Pakistan's North West 
Frontier Province (NWFP) and Pakistani-administered Kashmir on 8 October 
last year. In addition, over 3.5 million people were rendered homeless 
across the region by the disaster.

"We have provided 50 prefabricated BHUs in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK). 
The [first] 23 BHUs are to be completed in the first phase and the 
remaining would be built in the next phase," Jafer Ilyas, public health 
officer at the WHO, told IRIN in Muzaffarabad.

The earthquake has caused widespread damage to infrastructure: in 
Muzaffarabad alone 79 percent of health service buildings were badly 
damaged, with only 7 percent untouched by the quake, according to WHO 
statistics.

"There are no proper medicines or clinics in our village.I arrived here 
after a three-hour walk with my ill son," said Zarina Bebi, 40, who was 
waiting in a long queue outside a WHO-funded BHU in Dullai village in 
Muzaffarabad.

The BHUs will carry out various health services in the quake-hit areas, 
including maternal health, communicable disease control, vaccinations, 
treatment of common diseases, transfer of serious patients to the 
hospitals and reporting of any outbreaks in the region.

"They have to report within 24 hours on any suspicious cases," Bile 
remarked, adding that the rapid response team would investigate the area 
and would carry out strict measures for the prevention of the disease if 
an outbreak were discovered.

The WHO is also in the process of providing 12 larger prefabricated 
Rural Health Centres (RHC) in AJK. Out of these, seven will be 
established in Muzaffarabad district in the near future, according to 
Ilyas.

Meanwhile, the WHO, in collaboration with other aid organisations such 
as the UN Population Fund (UNFPA), the International Rescue Committee 
(IRC), the International Committee of the Red Crescent (ICRC), the 
UK-based medical relief organisation, Merlin, and government health 
authorities, is planning to establish nine cholera camps in Muzaffarabad 
and Neelum districts in case of an outbreak of the disease.

According to the WHO, there were at least 29 deaths from cholera among 
20,000 reported cases in quake-struck Pakistani-administered Kashmir 
last year.

"The significance of this cholera prevention preparedness plan is to be 
able to manage the cases reduce mortality," Ilyas told IRIN.

Despite widespread efforts to assist those affected and provide them 
with health services, many are still suffering from lack of access to 
proper medicine and healthcare, particularly in remote parts of 
Muzaffarabad.


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