11 tent hospitals will set up in flood-hit Kohistan and Swat regions
The KP health department plans to set up about 11 tent hospitals in the Kohistan and Swat region with the help of the United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF), to provide healthcare to the union councils after the recent flash floods and devastating monsoon rains destroyed the health infrastructure.
These weather-resistant and waterproof hospitals will be functional in a week, according to officials.
The officials told The Asian Mirror that this strategy was created to stop the spread of diseases, particularly those brought on by mosquitoes, in the flood-affected Kohistan and Swat regions.
According to the officials, the downtrend of diseases had been reported in 18 flood-hit districts as the population displaced by the deluge had returned to find around 10 health facilities washed away by floodwaters.
They said that setting up tent hospitals was part of a plan to bring back those people’s access to healthcare.
11 tent hospitals will set up in flood-hit Kohistan and Swat regions
The officials said the incidence of acute watery diarrhoea, respiratory problems, skin and water-borne diseases was decreasing in flood-hit areas but efforts were afoot to prevent the outbreak of vector-borne issues, especially malaria and dengue, following the receding of floodwater.
They added that each tent hospital would be waterproof and weather-resistant and would cover 4,000 square metres area in Swat and Kohistan districts, where civil dispensaries and basic health units were destroyed by the monsoon calamity leaving the residents without proper health services.
The officials further said the UNICEF has promised the installation of tent hospitals within a week, where the World Health Organisation and other partner organisations would provide doctors, paramedics and women health workers.
They claimed that the recent torrential rains and flash floods had damaged 256 hospitals, including 200 partially and 56 entirely, as well as some medical facilities equipment.
They claimed that the recent nonstop rains had damaged 256 hospitals, including 200 partially and 56 entirely, as well as some medical facilities’ equipment.
The officials said, the government was pre-paring a comprehensive report for the rehabilitation of those facilities and that the report was likely to be ready by Sept 29.
They claimed that because a formal request for funding will be made to donor organizations, the restoration of the health infrastructure would take time.
They said three health facilities damaged by floodwaters in both districts were being run with the support of the WHO and French relief organisations.
Meanwhile, Accoridng to the officials, another threat posed by heavy rains was malaria, so the health department, as a preventive measure against the disease, had started distributing ‘long-lasting’ mosquito nets and insecticide in most-damaged districts, including Dera Ismail Khan and Tank, for the protection of the people’s health from mosquito bites to prevent malaria.
