PESHAWAR, Oct 28: The NWFP health department has worked out a medium-term strategy for rehabilitation of earthquake victims. The task is estimated to cost about Rs5 billion.

Two core groups have been formed to separately monitor rehabilitation work and work in coordination wherever required.

These are also required to send updates to the health secretariate.

The quake-hit areas have been divided into two zones, one to be monitored and supervised from Battagram and the other from Mansehra, provincial Health Minister Inayatullah Khan told newsmen at a briefing on Friday.

“The phase of rescue operations is over, and now a medium-term strategy has been devised for healthcare, provision of shelter and other services,” he added.

He also said that EDOs health had been empowered to use their offices for providing all possible health services to any patient, adding that some international agencies, including WHO and Save the Children, were effective partners and extending help in providing assistance and technical support.

During the early days of the disaster, a meeting of coordinating partners was being held on daily, and now when the situation was in control, the meeting was being arranged after every two days.

The representatives of donor agencies cooperated wherever the situation demanded and they were requested for technical and logistic support, the minister told to a questioner.

He said so far 100 health personnel had been sent to Abbottabad, 330 to Mansehra, and 210 to Battagram. Sixty-five ambulances had been made available to shift injured people to nearby hospitals. During the emergency period 60,000 patients had been treated and 40,000 surgeries, including major and minor, had been conducted, he maintained.

Asked about the international response to Pakistan appeal for emergency help, the health minister said that some countries, including the UK, were the quickest. Soon after the incident, 67 members from Cuba, 10 from Britain and 6 rescue experts from Australia had been rushed to Islamabad.

In reply to a question, Mr Inayat said Ayub Medical Complex and District Headquarter Mansehra partially, while civil hospitals Batal, Balakot, Rural Health Centre Gora, Sachaa, TB Center Dadar, OHC Ogi and District Headquarter Hospital Battagram had been collapsed.

“We will conduct inquiry to ascertain why most of the government buildings, including health centres, have been collapsed during the quake jolts,” he told a questioner.