PESHAWAR, May 16: The World Health Organisation on Monday expressed concern over the provincial government was making no effort to cope with problem. “There is no effort on part of the provincial government. It seemed that the health department did not have adequate facilities to cope with the situation despite confirmation of bird flu virus in Abbottabad and Charsadda,” WHO officials said in Islamabad.

They said they had provided 18 kits containing protective equipment for hospital staff, but it had neither been used nor supplied to hospitals. They said they had also supplied Tamiflu, a drug for countering bird flu, but it was not used.

Last month, a patient was admitted to the Khyber Teaching Hospital (KTH) with bird flu symptoms and doctors were unable to find anyone who could collect samples to be sent to Islamabad for verification of the disease.

The WHO officials said that they had trained health professionals at the Lady Reading Hospital (LRH), the Hayatabad Medical Complex (HMC) and the KTH, but despite that they were requested to collect samples from the patient, which was beyond comprehension.

They said that the UN health agency had asked the provincial health department to provide data about the incidence of pneumonia at the three teaching hospitals, but they said that they did not have any mechanism to collect the data.

Officials said that the veterinary department was equally responsible for its lack of interest regarding bird flu. “It has miserably failed to come up with a clear-cut strategy to allay public fears,” they said. Officials said that last month local World Food Programme officials had informed the veterinary officials about dead chickens in a canal near Nasir Bagh, but no action was taken.

“In such circumstances, the people panic and poultry farm owners lose millions of rupees,” WHO officials said.

“We are not prepared to cope with an epidemic,” an official at the health directorate said. Officials said that the eight poultry workers, who had been quarantined after they developed bird flu symptoms, had been sent home without further investigation.

“We do not have adequate facilities to investigate suspected patients,” said the official, adding that 12 hospitals had been identified as ‘sentinel centres’ in case of an outbreak.

A WHO official said they had been informed by the government about the confirmation of H5N1 virus in the province. “We do not work at our own. We intervene when the government seeks technical assistance for a public health problem,” he said.

“The most important thing is coordination among health, livestock and agriculture departments,” said an official at the provincial health department.

Officials of the veterinary department avoid telling about the poultry farm situation, the WHO official said, adding: “It is as if they are trying to give an impression that everything is fine. But wishing away won’t make the problem go away.”