IRIN
AFGHANISTAN: Up to 100 dead as cold weather grips the country
10 February 2005


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

KABUL, 10 February (IRIN) - Officials in Kabul have called for better 
emergency preparedness following the death of up to 100 people from cold 
weather in isolated rural areas.

More than 60 people are believed to have died of acute respiratory 
infections, mainly pneumonia and whooping cough in southern, eastern and 
northern provinces of Afghanistan. On Thursday, the Ministry of Public 
Health (MOPH) would only confirm 25 deaths.

Several hundred people are thought to be stranded because of snow, ice 
and avalanches in northern areas of the country.

"We are on the alert and have formed an emergency task force composed of 
government ministries and health aid agencies including the United 
Nations to try and save the lives of vulnerable Afghans," public health 
minister, Mohammad Amin Fatemi, told IRIN on Thursday in Kabul.

Fatemi said it was an exceptionally severe winter and most roads to 
suburbs were closed after heavy snowfalls.

Local reports from Kabul indicate that at least six people have died of 
cold in a refugee camp in the capital, where the temperature has dropped 
to minus 18 degrees some nights.

In the southern province of Kandahar at least five people died, three of 
whom froze to death, following heavy snowfall in the south.

Meanwhile, 28 children died following a measles and whooping cough 
outbreak in the southern Urozgan and Daykundi provinces in late January.

Most of the preventable deaths were caused by a lack of access to 
vulnerable communities in winter.

"There is no possibility of going by road, horse or on foot. Aid can 
only be airlifted," the health minister noted. He said the ministry of 
defence had provided two helicopters to reach the areas most at risk.

"We have sent a health team to Badakhshan where unconfirmed reports 
indicate that 30 people and over 300 animals have died due to different 
diseases caused by cold weather," he noted. Fatemi added that cold 
weather and low immunisation rates in inaccessible areas are the main 
reasons for the outbreaks of disease.

Officials in the southern province of Zabul told IRIN that 31 people 
were known to have died after several days of heavy snow. Ghulam Jelani, 
security commander of Zabul, said that 13 people died in Shemki, 11 in 
Shamozi and another seven in Sueree districts. "Some of these people 
died when their houses collapsed due to the weight of snow," he said.

Jelani said all roads to the affected districts remained closed. "We 
have contacted the Coalition [US-led forces based in Kandahar] to help 
us with air transport so we can reach these areas."


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


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