Health workers in flood-affected parts of Afghanistan are trying to prevent water-borne disease outbreaks by chlorinating drinking water and promptly delivering health services.
Dozens of small health teams have been sent to areas mainly in northern and eastern Afghanistan hit by flash floods over the past two weeks, Health Ministry officials said.
About 70 people have lost their lives, over 6,000 houses have been destroyed, and there has been extensive damage to agriculture and livestock, according to the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority.
“While we are very worried about an outbreak of water-borne diseases, thus far the situation is under control,” said Health Ministry spokesman Kargar Nooroghli.
He said all health centres in the flood-hit provinces of Laghman, Logar, Wardak, Kapisa, Panjshir, Khost, Kunar, Nangarhar and Parwan were on high alert and healthcare providers were striving to control diseases.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said it has dispatched medical relief supplies to the affected provinces to cover the basic health needs of 9,000 people and treat 5,000 diarrhoea cases.
“WHO is well prepared to support the health sector response should the situation worsen,” it said in a press release on 5 August.
Only 22 percent of Afghans have access to improved drinking water and water-borne diseases kill up to 50,000 children in Afghanistan every year, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Health workers are concerned that water sources contaminated by floods may exacerbate access to safe drinking water and increase water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, leptospirosis and typhoid fever.
Poor awareness
“The biggest challenge is poor awareness among rural families about the risks of unsafe drinking water and how to decontaminate drinking water,” said Abdul Latif Qayumi, director of the health department in Laghman Province where floods killed 10 people and damaged dozens of houses on 27-29 July.
Health Ministry officials said chlorination of wells was under way in the flood-affected areas and liquid chlorine would be distributed to families to disinfect drinking water. Chlorine inactivates 99.99 percent of enteric bacteria and viruses, according to WHO.
Qayumi, however, said there was a lack of chlorine in Laghman Province. “We have requested it from UNICEF and the Health Ministry.”
Standing water also increases the risk of malaria and leishmaniasis as mosquitoes breed in stagnant water, health experts say.
Afghanistan is considered to have the fourth largest malaria burden worldwide and over 390,000 malaria cases were reported in 2009, according to the Health Ministry.
Health officials said insecticide-treated bednets would be distributed to reduce an outbreak of malaria and leishmaniasis.
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Dozens of small health teams have been sent to areas mainly in northern and eastern Afghanistan hit by flash floods over the past two weeks, Health Ministry officials said.
About 70 people have lost their lives, over 6,000 houses have been destroyed, and there has been extensive damage to agriculture and livestock, according to the Afghanistan National Disasters Management Authority.
“While we are very worried about an outbreak of water-borne diseases, thus far the situation is under control,” said Health Ministry spokesman Kargar Nooroghli.
He said all health centres in the flood-hit provinces of Laghman, Logar, Wardak, Kapisa, Panjshir, Khost, Kunar, Nangarhar and Parwan were on high alert and healthcare providers were striving to control diseases.
The UN World Health Organization (WHO) said it has dispatched medical relief supplies to the affected provinces to cover the basic health needs of 9,000 people and treat 5,000 diarrhoea cases.
“WHO is well prepared to support the health sector response should the situation worsen,” it said in a press release on 5 August.
Only 22 percent of Afghans have access to improved drinking water and water-borne diseases kill up to 50,000 children in Afghanistan every year, according to the UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF).
Health workers are concerned that water sources contaminated by floods may exacerbate access to safe drinking water and increase water-borne diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, leptospirosis and typhoid fever.
Poor awareness
“The biggest challenge is poor awareness among rural families about the risks of unsafe drinking water and how to decontaminate drinking water,” said Abdul Latif Qayumi, director of the health department in Laghman Province where floods killed 10 people and damaged dozens of houses on 27-29 July.
Health Ministry officials said chlorination of wells was under way in the flood-affected areas and liquid chlorine would be distributed to families to disinfect drinking water. Chlorine inactivates 99.99 percent of enteric bacteria and viruses, according to WHO.
Qayumi, however, said there was a lack of chlorine in Laghman Province. “We have requested it from UNICEF and the Health Ministry.”
Standing water also increases the risk of malaria and leishmaniasis as mosquitoes breed in stagnant water, health experts say.
Afghanistan is considered to have the fourth largest malaria burden worldwide and over 390,000 malaria cases were reported in 2009, according to the Health Ministry.
Health officials said insecticide-treated bednets would be distributed to reduce an outbreak of malaria and leishmaniasis.
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