PESHAWAR, July 31: The World Health Organisation has urged the government to concentrate on the capacity building of the public-sector health workers so that they may respond timely to natural calamities, minimising the number of casualties.

WHO’s country chief Dr Khalife Mahmud Bile said: “Pakistan is a disaster-prone country. We are working with the government to put in place an Emergency Health Preparedness and Response Cell.”

Talking to Dawn, he said that flash floods in Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP hit the population on a regular basis, thus underlining the need for an emergency health preparedness plan.

He said the United Nations was spending about $300 million per annum in Pakistan to improve facilities for water and sanitation and maternal and child health in order to control the spread of HIV/Aids and polio in the country, besides dealing with problems emanating from natural disasters.

He said: “We need to devise a plan so that medical aid can be ensured for the population during floods and other natural disasters.”

He said that the world agency was creating more posts for medical officers in an effort to strengthen the emergency cells in all the provinces of Pakistan.

Dr Bile said: “However, the government is required to ensure the safety and well-being of its workers involved in providing social services such as health and education. In some parts of the country, especially in the Federally-Administrated Tribal Areas (Fata), the prevailing insecurity among health workers was affecting people’s health.”

He highlighted the need for more efforts to ensure the safety of health workers so that they could work in a conducive atmosphere.

He said the geopolitical situation in the Fata and lack of awareness about health issues on the part of the people were some of the issues which needed to be addressed at the earliest.

He said: “Peace, health, education and development were blessings for families. Health itself is a peace carrier. Everybody has the responsibility to work for peace.”

He said that misinterpretation of religion for opposing the anti-polio campaign in the NWFP and Fata was affecting the health of the children who were supposed to become useful people in future.

Dr Bile said: “The WHO was spending Rs 165 million on the polio eradication campaign in the NWFP and Fata. This amount can be diverted to other areas of child development once the crippling ailment of polio is eradicated.”

He said: “A child crippled by polio keeps struggling for his/her entire life. A polio victim remains a life-long burden on his/her family. Therefore, parents, especially mothers, should be motivated to get their offspring vaccinated against polio.”

He said that not only polio but diseases like TB, hepatitis, malaria, etc., were taking a heavy toll on Pakistanis and the only way to get rid of such ailments was promotion of a healthy lifestyle among the people.