New health units established in quake zone

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 to provide 50 prefabricated BHUs in Azad Jammu and Kashmir [Pakistani-administered Kashmir]). 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 Pakistani-administered Kashmir. 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.