![[Pakistan] Grieving mother Rashida Bibi, whose six-month son Noorul Amin
died in Khania village earlier this week, says poor living standards and the lack of a nearby medical facility are to blame [Date picture taken: 12/07/2006]](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20061285.jpg.webp?itok=Psxh_zXk "Grieving mother Rashida Bibi, whose six-month son Noorul Amin died in Khania village earlier this week, said poor living standards and the lack of a nearby medical facility were to blame")
A health alert was triggered in quake-stricken Pakistani-administered Kashmir this week, after scores of children within a remote mountain village fell seriously ill with a suspected ‘water-borne’ disease.
Distraught families from the village of Khania, Neelum Valley, contacted the International Organization for Migration (IOM), claiming six infants had died within two days, with many more showing similar symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
Three IOM Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were mobilized to the community of 5,000 people, lying more than 1,600 metres above the Neelum Valley, in a desperate bid to save lives. The immediate fear was an outbreak of cholera.
Following an immediate on-site assessment by RRT doctors, who screened 50 children within the first few hours, all were found to have diarrhea and most were suffering the effects of pneumonia. Five youngsters and their families were evacuated in IOM vehicles to the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS)in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, more than 25 km away. A further nine children were ferried to the hospital with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Dr Bashir-ur-Rehman, the hospital’s chief executive, confirmed 14 children between the ages of 12 months and three years had been admitted from Khania village suffering with gastric and respiratory conditions.
Eight youngsters were found to have moderate to severe pneumonia, half had acute chest infections, with half of those also suffering from gastroenteritis. All were expected to make a full recovery.
“Rapid tests for cholera have been completed and shown to be negative,” he stressed, but added that the tests were not 100 percent conclusive. Samples had been sent for more detailed analysis to the capital Islamabad, with results expected within the next few days.
He blamed inadequate shelter and the severe weather in the mountains, adding: “It is related to the living conditions, the heavy rains and snowfalls of this early chill. I am not surprised.”
Some 70 percent of Khania’s 450 families are still living in tents, according to IOM, which has conducted assessments of high altitude villages across northern Pakistan, where more than 75,000 people were killed and some 3 million people rendered homeless when the 7.6 magnitude quake ripped through Pakistani-administered Kashmir and the country’s North West Frontier Province on 8 October last year.
John Sampson, head of IOM’s sub-office in Muzaffarabad, said: “All the victims in this emergency have been living in tents and the village has already seen snow. But many communities are facing similar conditions”.
The first IOM RRT had reached Khania village within an hour of being mobilised and had immediately alerted the district health officer and the international aid community.
Sampson added: “Our first priority was to get these children to the hospital to be tested and for treatment. IOM was contacted and the job of its five RRTs across Pakistan is to respond immediately to any medical emergencies, working closely with the district health authority’s task force which has been set up to offer additional support to vulnerable communities”.
Grieving parent Rashida Bibi, whose six-month son Noorul Amin died earlier this week, maintained poor living standards and the lack of a nearby medical facility were to blame.
“It was a sudden illness, with severe diarrhea. There was no fever, no vomiting. My husband and I were planning to take the baby to Muzaffarabad, but he died before we were able to make the long journey to the hospital…Life is hard here since the earthquake. We are still living in temporary shelter and at night it is very cold. There is no medical facility nearby and no doctor here for my son,” she explained.
Staff from Merlin, a medical NGO, set up a field unit in the village this week with two doctors onsite in Khania for further screening and open surgery for all villagers. The agency has pledged to maintain regular visits, weather permitting.
The organisation’s Dr Jawad Khan remarked: “We have seen dozens of patients, many with chest weaknesses, influenza and coughs. The immediate emergency is over, but we are still waiting for confirmation that there is no cholera”.
UNICEF has pledged additional quilts, blankets and hygiene kits for the 450 families in the village, for immediate distribution, following the incident.
But with winter only just beginning and sub-zero temperatures already hitting high altitude communities in temporary shelter across the quake zone, this may be the first of many health alerts in the months ahead, according to Dr Bashir-ur-Rehman.
“If living conditions are not good and people are unable to keep warm in winter temperatures then we are going to see more of these situations,” he warned.
Distraught families from the village of Khania, Neelum Valley, contacted the International Organization for Migration (IOM), claiming six infants had died within two days, with many more showing similar symptoms of vomiting and diarrhea.
Three IOM Rapid Response Teams (RRTs) were mobilized to the community of 5,000 people, lying more than 1,600 metres above the Neelum Valley, in a desperate bid to save lives. The immediate fear was an outbreak of cholera.
Following an immediate on-site assessment by RRT doctors, who screened 50 children within the first few hours, all were found to have diarrhea and most were suffering the effects of pneumonia. Five youngsters and their families were evacuated in IOM vehicles to the Abbas Institute of Medical Sciences (AIMS)in Muzaffarabad, capital of Pakistani-administered Kashmir, more than 25 km away. A further nine children were ferried to the hospital with support from the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Dr Bashir-ur-Rehman, the hospital’s chief executive, confirmed 14 children between the ages of 12 months and three years had been admitted from Khania village suffering with gastric and respiratory conditions.
Eight youngsters were found to have moderate to severe pneumonia, half had acute chest infections, with half of those also suffering from gastroenteritis. All were expected to make a full recovery.
“Rapid tests for cholera have been completed and shown to be negative,” he stressed, but added that the tests were not 100 percent conclusive. Samples had been sent for more detailed analysis to the capital Islamabad, with results expected within the next few days.
He blamed inadequate shelter and the severe weather in the mountains, adding: “It is related to the living conditions, the heavy rains and snowfalls of this early chill. I am not surprised.”
Some 70 percent of Khania’s 450 families are still living in tents, according to IOM, which has conducted assessments of high altitude villages across northern Pakistan, where more than 75,000 people were killed and some 3 million people rendered homeless when the 7.6 magnitude quake ripped through Pakistani-administered Kashmir and the country’s North West Frontier Province on 8 October last year.
John Sampson, head of IOM’s sub-office in Muzaffarabad, said: “All the victims in this emergency have been living in tents and the village has already seen snow. But many communities are facing similar conditions”.
The first IOM RRT had reached Khania village within an hour of being mobilised and had immediately alerted the district health officer and the international aid community.
Sampson added: “Our first priority was to get these children to the hospital to be tested and for treatment. IOM was contacted and the job of its five RRTs across Pakistan is to respond immediately to any medical emergencies, working closely with the district health authority’s task force which has been set up to offer additional support to vulnerable communities”.
Grieving parent Rashida Bibi, whose six-month son Noorul Amin died earlier this week, maintained poor living standards and the lack of a nearby medical facility were to blame.
“It was a sudden illness, with severe diarrhea. There was no fever, no vomiting. My husband and I were planning to take the baby to Muzaffarabad, but he died before we were able to make the long journey to the hospital…Life is hard here since the earthquake. We are still living in temporary shelter and at night it is very cold. There is no medical facility nearby and no doctor here for my son,” she explained.
Staff from Merlin, a medical NGO, set up a field unit in the village this week with two doctors onsite in Khania for further screening and open surgery for all villagers. The agency has pledged to maintain regular visits, weather permitting.
The organisation’s Dr Jawad Khan remarked: “We have seen dozens of patients, many with chest weaknesses, influenza and coughs. The immediate emergency is over, but we are still waiting for confirmation that there is no cholera”.
UNICEF has pledged additional quilts, blankets and hygiene kits for the 450 families in the village, for immediate distribution, following the incident.
But with winter only just beginning and sub-zero temperatures already hitting high altitude communities in temporary shelter across the quake zone, this may be the first of many health alerts in the months ahead, according to Dr Bashir-ur-Rehman.
“If living conditions are not good and people are unable to keep warm in winter temperatures then we are going to see more of these situations,” he warned.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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