PESHAWAR, Dec 4: NWFP government has prepared an emergency relief strategy (ERS) to cater to the increasing health requirements in the province in view of the influx of Afghan refugees fleeing US air strikes, official sources told Dawn.
In line with the ERS, the NWFP government has notified a provincial health emergency coordination and action committee that would take care of issues relating to healthcare requirements amidst a fresh wave of Afghan families surging towards Pakistan, particularly NWFP, to take refuge.
A need to prepare the emergency strategy, said the sources, had been felt to get prepared for meeting the increasing healthcare requirements as over 100,000 Afghan displaced persons had already found their way into the NWFP with the aid agencies, working under the United Nations, were still anticipating greater influx.
Sources said that in view of the harsh winter, already set in in Afghanistan, and air strikes in Afghan areas close to the Pakistani border, the United Nations High Commission for Refugees and other relief agencies were still anticipating larger number of Afghans surging towards Pakistan in days to come.
Apart from the officials of the NWFP health department, representatives of international donor and aid agencies, including the UNHCR, the World Health Organization and Unicef, are also on the committee. NWFP Health Secretary Salim Khan will preside over the committee.
Over 33 per cent, (involving over Rs450m) of the annual budget the provincial government specifies for the public sector hospitals, according to official estimates, is consumed by Afghan refugees leaving the health sector budget in jeopardy as far as ensuring healthcare to the local communities is concerned.
The committee, said the sources, would work under the central coordination cell set up at the home and tribal affairs department level to coordinate the NWFP government’s agencies and the departments’ efforts viz-a-viz catering the needs of the Afghan displaced persons who recently arrived escaping war in their country.
According to sources, the health emergency coordination and action committee (HECAC) would coordinate all donor and national emergency assistance inputs. It would also strive to ensure disaster and mass emergency preparedness and capacity building of the provincial health sector.
The areas of its responsibility also include coordination, supervision and monitoring of the whole process of emergency assistance to NWFP and refugees apart from ensuring integrated strategies with emphasis on refugees as well as to cater the development needs of the host community.
Three sub-committees have also been constituted to assist the HECAC. These sub-committees, said the sources, would coordinate with donors, apart from taking care of disease surveillance and drugs distribution. Whereas, the third sub-committee would work on disaster preparedness.
Under the ERS, said the sources, apart from constituting the HECAC and its sub-committees a control room at the director-general health’s office had also been set up.
Disaster tackling plans had been prepared and requirements of medicines and equipment had been evaluated and communicated to the agencies concerned apart from establishing liaison with the blood banks in the private sector to arrange blood on need basis, sources said.
