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| October 15, 2005 | Saturday | Ramzan 10, 1426 |
‘Goods being wasted due to mismanagement’
ABBOTTABAD, Oct 14: Relief goods, especially food items and medicines, collected by individuals, organizations and donor agencies are likely to go waste due to lack of planning and mismanagement as every one is rushing to Balakot and other parts of Hazara to provide much-needed succour to the quake-affected population.
There are hundreds of vehicles lying stranded on the roads to the quake-affected areas, resulting in hampering the relief operation and blocking the way for ambulances to ferry the injured to hospitals and shifting of heavy earth-moving machinery to the affected areas.
Most of those providing relief goods are simply throwing them on the roadside, which is sad indeed.
The government has requested all donors to either deliver these goods to the relief centres and camps or to those organizations which are working in a planned manner like the Abbottonian Medical Association which established a relief camp on the first day at the Ayub Medical Complex.
At least more than a 100 volunteers who include doctors and students are working at the Disaster Cell established by the Abbottonian and the Ayub Medical College Boys Union.
The Abbottonian along with the Ayub Medical College Union has established the first camp at the Ayub Medical Complex to cater to the needs of a 1,000 people where the injured and their families are being kept.
They had collected medicines worth Rs1 million from different sectors and had dispatched 10 medical teams in all earthquake-affected areas.
A special website has been created called www.amcrelief.com, which is providing all data and details regarding the demand for medicines, orthopaedic equipment, tents, blankets, etc.
Dr Noman Siddique, secretary of the Abbottonian Medical Association, said that worldwide response had been received as countless organizations and donors from Canada, Italy, USA, Austria, Japan and other countries were dispatching relief goods.
He said that one of the donors had dispatched 30 fibre-glass rooms to be used by those affected by the earthquake.
The Abbottonian Medical Association has brought some of the country’s leading organizations under one channel which includes the LUMS and Hidya Foundation Karachi. Besides, Red Crescent, World Islamic Relief, Rotary International, Japanese donors, Liaquat National Hospital Karachi, Fatima Memorial Trust Karachi, Shalimar Hospital Lahore, Shaukat Khanum Hospital Lahore, Hussani Blood Bank Karachi, Welfare Hand Peshawar, Chughtai Laboratory and Services Hospital Lahore are also cooperating with it.
Provincial Minister for Health Dr Inayatullah Khan while addressing a press conference at the Ayub Medical Complex said that to reach all the earthquake-affected areas of the NWFP two helicopters of Save The Children were being utilized and medical teams had been dispatched to Alli, Battagram, Paras and Banta (Kaghan area). He said that local health care centres had been established where patients were being treated.
He said that three camps would be established: one each at Abbottabad (by the Abbottonian Medical Association), Balakot (by the Unicef) and Battagram (by Save the Children).
The provincial minister said that vaccination in all the affected areas has been started.
Regarding the accommodation of patients, he said that around 2,500 patients had been accommodated at different hospitals of Hazara while with the help of the Sheikh Zaid Hospital a 400-bed hospital was being established at the Post-graduate College Mansehra. He said that there was sufficient accommodation at Haripur, Peshawar and other places.
He said that till date 17,040 injured had been treated in different hospitals of Hazara division and a total of 12,252 operations had been carried out by at least 30 teams of doctors (both Pakistani and foreign).
He said that 65 ambulances of NWFP government hospitals were being used while 100 of private organizations, especially Edhi Foundation and Al-Rashid Trust, were being used.
About the organizations which were cooperating with the Ayub Medical Complex, he named the Unicef, WHO, Save the Children, Italian Support Agency, Dewan Salman, MSF (Doctors without Frontiers), KAI Japan, Estonia, Jinnah Postgraduate Karachi, Pakistan Medical Association, Pakistan Islamic Relief Association, Pak Orthopaedic Association, Al-Khidmat, Sheikh Zaid Hospital, Sindh Institute of Urology and Transplantation, Pakistan Army and the Pakistan Cardiology Institute.
The minister said that meetings of these organizations were being held daily and the situation was being monitored by the NWFP government on a daily basis.
He said that besides a short-term programme, a long-term rehabilitation programme was also being planned for which directives had been issued.
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