PESHAWAR: The United Nations’ decision to restrict movement of its staff in the provincial capital would affect provision of healthcare facilities at relief camps.

‘The UN staff has been asked to restrict activities to offices and avoid field visits due to the bombing at the Pearl Continental Hotel, which will adversely affect the health facilities being provided to the internally displaced persons (IDPs),’ said an official at the Health Directorate.

Following the incident, in which a couple of UN employees were killed, the global agency stopped operations for a few days but later at a meeting decided to continue working in the NWFP to provide relief to off-camp IDPs.

The United Nations Office for Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) has raised security level to phase-III for the entire country in which the UN missions are not allowed to carry out field visits for security reasons. The foreign staff was asked to send their families to their native countries.

According to sources, phase-III security had already been applied in the NWFP due to the deteriorating law and order situation last year, but the UN missions used to carry out field visits to the IDP camps on humanitarian grounds.

‘Essential UN staff will remain on duty at their offices, but we need them in the field,’ said a senior doctor at the directorate.

The World Health Organisation (WHO) was leading health clusters for the IDPs. Sources said that meetings of the clusters had been shifted to Islamabad although the provincial government had assured the full security.

‘We need the WHO staff to carry out monitoring and evaluation of the health facilities at relief camps to help the government in putting brakes on the outbreaks of epidemics,’ said an official, adding that suspension of field visits would leave the health department in the lurch as it would not be able to do what the WHO was doing.

The WHO knew the health facilities and disease trends in every camp and it collected information from the camps on daily basis, and supplied to the health department, he said.

Furthermore, the UN has been helpful in devising strategies for health intervention in the camps in line with the emerging needs there, he said, adding that the global body had already been requested by the government to launch operations in relief camps.
‘The healthcare situation at the camps could slip out of hands if the WHO didn’t start operations immediately,’ the official added.