PESHAWAR, Aug 31: The World Health Organisation (WHO) is establishing diarrhoea treatment centres throughout flood-ravaged Pakistan, as it strives to protect people against epidemic-prone acute waterborne diseases, reduce excess deaths and restore routine health care services, said an official of the organisation.

According to latest data, 500,635 people had been treated for various forms of diarrhoea, ranging from acute watery diarrhoea and bloody diarrhoea to its milder variations, Dr Guido Sabatinelli, WHO representative in Pakistan, told Dawn.

The WHO, he said, had also warned of the incre-ased risk of diarrhoeal diseases in the flood-stricken areas due to lack or absence of access to safe water to the people affected by the floods.

Poor sanitation and compromised hygiene and living conditions in which the millions displaced by the floods are forced to live are also making them vulnerable to these diseases.

“More than 60 diarrhoeal treatment centres (DTCs) are operational or in the process of being established in 46 of the most affected districts.

The USAID and the Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance are funding the establishment of these centres, which are being operated by nongovernmental organisation partners and Pakistani health authorities,” he added.

“The terrible scale of this disaster has shocked the entire world, and the increasing trend in diarrhoeal diseases remains a grave concern to the humanitarian community,” he said.

“The current situation remains a major threat to public health.

If the current poor environmental and hygiene situation in affected areas does not improve together with availability of safe drinking water and access to health services, then the risk is that we may see more potentially fatal cases,” he continued.

Diarrhoeal diseases are not the only public health risks facing Pakistan’s flood-affected people.

Acute respiratory infections, hepatitis A and E, malaria and skin infections are among the multiple health threats that have already affected thousands of people.

The combination of challenges preventing many people from reaching health care is worrying, requiring health providers to intensify efforts, both to deliver health services directly to those who need it, and to find alternative means, such as by air, to reach communities isolated by floodwaters, he said.

“More than 400 hospitals and clinics have been damaged by this disaster, destroying in the blink of an eye services that have been built up over 60 years. And the worst is not over yet,” warned Dr Sabatinelli.

“The waters could remain for weeks, and the damage caused will remain even longer.

The humanitarian community has a monumental task to protect the health of so many vulnerable people. And this will require sustained international support,” he said.

The WHO and health cluster partners have sought $56.2 million to conduct life-saving health programmes in the Pakistan Initial Floods Emergency Response Plan 2010 launched August on 9.

So far, only 43 per cent of the amount gas been covered by pledges or commitments for the plan, which covers relief efforts for the first 90 days of the emergency.

“More funding is urgently needed to deliver health services to extremely vulnerable communities now, and sustained support will also be needed in the months ahead as Pakistan tries to rebuild its health system for the future,” said Dr Sabatinelli.