PESHAWAR, Sept 20: About 60 per cent of the patients visiting hospitals in the NWFP suffer from diseases caused by the use of contaminated water, say health officials. Citing the report of the Health Management Information System, they said 60 per cent of the patients visiting the hospitals suffered from stomach problems caused by unsafe water.
The federal environment ministry was organizing workshops in consultation with the provincial local government departments, the United Nations Children’s Fund and other departments concerned to prevent loss of water and provide clean drinking water to people, they said. Suggestions from the workshops would be accommodated in the draft policy document which would be presented for public debate, they said.
They said the working paper of the National Water and Sanitation Policy had been approved.
According to the officials, 45 of 50 water samples analyzed during a study conducted by Unicef in Takhtbai tehsil contained bacteria, due to which 58 per cent of the area’s population suffered from diarrhoea and 10 per cent from dysentery.
They said 61 per cent of the people in the country themselves made arrangements to purify water.
According to them, only 17 per cent of the consumers –- 43 per cent in urban and seven per cent in rural areas – paid bills for the water consumed by them.
They said lack of policy, trained manpower and coordination among departments concerned were the main causes of the persistence of the problem of unsafe water.
They said a long-term policy, financial resources and a strong monitoring system were needed to overcome the problem.
They said it was difficult to formulate a policy because of lack of reliable data regarding water situation in the country. They there was no mechanism for purification of water and determination of its standard and quality.
THREE SHOT DEAD: Three members of a family were shot dead on Charpazira Road in Wahid Ghari area of Daudzai in the outskirts of the city.
Dr Ijaz, son of Shah Mohammad, a resident of Patwar Payan area of Daudzai, told police that he believed that his two brothers, Ashfaq and Tahir, and cousin had been slain by their rivals who live in the same village.
At the time of the attack, the two siblings were travelling to Peshawar in a car along with their cousin Ajmal, a helper in a government department.