ISLAMABAD, Oct 10: The government is trying to get satellite imaging to assess the magnitude of damage from Saturday’s earthquake in unreachable areas in northern parts and AJK.
Health Minister Mohammad Nasir Khan on Monday said that President Pervez Musharraf had directed the concerned authorities to get aerial image of devastated areas to ascertain the magnitude of destruction caused by the earthquake especially in unreachable valleys of Neelum and Jhelum.
Mr Khan told reporters here at the auditorium of the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) that by Monday the death toll has reached to 20,745 with over 42,000 injured.
The minister also warned of looming health crisis in areas where decomposed bodies are still lying in the open and said it was necessary to immediately and properly bury the bodies with the help of family members to prevent outbreak of diseases.
The government has also dispatched chlorine tablets for the provision of clean drinking water to the people in the affected areas, while immunization teams have been mobilized to vaccinate people against tetanus and prevent epidemic like cholera and diarrhoea. Oral vaccine against cholera is also arriving.
Disease surveillance system have been activated while daily assessment of the situation would be done to control the situation.
In all, 700 patients were shifted to Pims of which 150 to 200 operations were conducted, the minister said adding only a woman was serious while rest were recovering. A total of 737 patients are admitted in different hospitals like Pims, Federal Government Services Hospital (FGSH), Capital Hospital, Rawalpindi General Hospital (RGH) and the Holy Family. These hospitals still have 500 beds to accommodate patients. Pims has 650 pints of blood in stocks.
On Monday, the cabinet has approved a grant of Rs50 million to buy essential medicines and surgical goods for the earthquake victims while different teams of the federal ministers have been formed to participate in the relief work, he said.
Friendly countries like Turkey is dispatching sniffer dogs whereas Russians are sending child surgeons to participate in the relief work. We still need psychiatrist to help people recover from trauma, the health minister said.
“My Indian counterpart has also expressed willingness to send help,” the minister said.
Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz has also requested the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to donate some make-shift mobile hospitals which would be airlifted to devastated areas immediately after reaching here.
Secretary Health Anwar Mehmood meanwhile said, 17 teams with a total of 60 health professionals with medical and surgical supplies have been send to different parts of the country to provide medical treatment including Hazara and AJK.
Similarly, the UNHCR has also sent 15 tent-hospitals, while WHO’s tent-hospitals have been dispatched from Peshawar to the affected areas.
The WHO has also appealed to the international organization on behalf of Pakistan for donations while it is also providing 25 emergency health kits. One kit is sufficient for 10,000 people for three months. Five kits have arrived while two are in line.
Mr Khan explained that coordination cell in the prime minister’s secretariat was working round the clock to coordinate and streamline both international and domestic aid to prevent overlapping.
Twenty-four helicopters are airlifting the injured persons daily from the area while US Chinook helicopters have also arrived to participate in the rescue work.
Nasir Khan also requested the retired surgeons or doctors willing to participate in the voluntary work to contact executive director Pims through telephone numbers 051-9261255 or 051- 9260500.
