NAROWAL, Feb 03: As many as 226 women died during pregnancy in the district in 2004. This was revealed in a health survey conducted by the National Commission for Human Development (NCHD) in the district.

According to the survey report, 2,237 patients of tuberculosis (TB), 1,084 of goitre, 525 (hepatitis), 906 (diabetes) and 13,078 patients of hyper-tension were traced in the district. The report also indicated 6,273 handicapped people.

The survey was conducted with the help of the education and health departments. As many as 1,200 teams of lady health workers and teachers visited 225,000 houses in all 74 union councils of the district in seven days to collect data through specially designed survey forms.

The survey was aimed at collecting information about the health of the people, especially women and children. NCHD District Programme Officer Dr. Shafqat Ejaz in a briefing said the field staff had been imparted necessary training prior to the survey.

He said the survey form was too simple that a common man could fill it easily. He claimed that it was the first survey of its kind financed by the district government. Mr Ejaz said the information would help in planning for the provision of health facilities to people for the next at least 10 years.

NCHD Media Officer Fareeha Ambreen said 116 pregnant women died in Narowal tehsil and 110 in Shakargarh tehsil last year. EDO Dr. Shaukat Saleem said the health department was planning to eliminate all fatal diseases from the district with the help of the data collected through the survey.

He admitted that the government was providing a very little budget for health. DCO Muhammad Asif said the survey would help in allocating health budget according to the requirements. He said the data would be up-graded on a regular basis.