GHALANAI/KARAK: Over 400 people affected by leishmaniasis in Pandiali tehsil of Mohmand tribal district have been hospitalised.

Local people told mediapersons here on Tuesday that the affected areas included Danish Kool, Darra, Garai and Ismail Sher Kallay in Pandiali tehsil besides some localities of Haleemzai tehsil.

Ghualm Sher, a resident, said that his daughter was among the over 400 affected people. Ziaur Rehman, whose son is also suffering from the disease, said that the people had shifted their children to hospitals in Peshawar and Charsadda districts because treatment of leishmaniasis was not available in Mohmand hospitals.

DG health services visits affected areas in Karak district

“We are paying up to Rs1,000 per vaccine and Rs2,000 to 3,000 as taxi charges, which is not affordable for a poor tribesman,” he said. He said that most of the affected people were suffering from the disease for the last two months, but the health department did not send its teams to the area.

When contacted, district health officer Dr Alamgir Khan said that leishmaniasis was a skin disease caused by a sand fly present in hilly areas and usually breeding in fresh water.

He said that vaccines for treatment of leishmaniasis were not available in the country. He said that the health department had forwarded a request to the WHO officials for provision of the vaccines.

The residents have demanded of the chief minister to order provision of treatment facilities to patients in the area.

In Karak, local officials told director general health services, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Dr Arshad Khan on Tuesday that the district health department had been facing difficulties to cope with the spread of leishmaniasis and other diseases due to shortage of doctors and facilities in the local hospitals.

Earlier, the DG health, district nazim Umer Daraz, MPA Nisar Gul and deputy commissioner Mian Abidullah visited the areas affected by the disease, including Bahadarkhel and Nari Panos, and got information about the latest situation.

In response to the complaints, the DG health assured participants of the meeting that the deficiency of staff and equipment in hospitals would be removed. All hospitals of the province have been facing shortage of doctors, Dr Arshad Khan said, adding that a new policy was afoot to overcome the deficiency of doctors.

He said that the provincial government was going to empower the district health officers in the new policy both in administrative and financial matters and they would be able to hire doctors at local level through a committee to meet the deficiency of doctors.

He said that leishmaniasis was also found in other parts of the province.

He said that there was a need to adopt precautionary measures to control the disease.

Published in Dawn, January 23rd, 2019