PESHAWAR, Dec 10: The World Health Organisation has warned of a possible outbreak of epidemics in the earthquake-hit region of the NWFP following rains and snowfall and has asked the government to speed up reconstruction activity.

“The way the reconstruction process is moving in the quake-hit zone of the province, people will become vulnerable to epidemics in coming days,” said an official of the WHO.

He said the recent spell of rains could cause pneumonia, diarrhoea, respiratory tract infections and chest disease.

He urged the government to speed up reconstruction activity so that quake survivors could be shifted to properly-built houses and protecting them from extreme cold.

The survivors could face health problems if the region received more rain and snowfall. The government should have given cash to the affected people for rebuilding their houses, which could have saved time.

He said the WHO had set up disease early warning systems in five quake-hit districts – Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Shangla and Kohistan – which helped health authorities to get information about epidemics.