KARACHI, Dec 4: The Pakistan Medical Association on Sunday expressed deep concern over the rising psychological problems in earthquake ravaged areas.

The PMA-Karachi General Secretary, Dr Qaisar Sajjad, and Dr Unaiza Niaz, Director of Institute of Psycho-trauma Pakistan (IPTP), in a joint press conference, said that not only survivors but even doctors, paramedics and other healthcare providers were facing psychological problems and mental fatigue, who were disturbed due to the situation and condition of the survivors.

They observed that the people of affected areas were just all-the-time looking for and collecting relief items when being distributed in various areas, and deplored that children were also busy in the activity instead of going to school.

He said they urgently needed psychological treatment to neutralize their psycho-trauma.

He said the PMA and IPTP with its affiliate institute of Psycho-trauma, Switzerland, would conduct a special course for health professionals, teachers, psychologists and social workers, empowering them with skills needed to deal with psycho-trauma emergencies.

The course will be held at the PMA House Karachi from Dec 16 to 18 and in Abbottabad from Dec 27-29.

He said the course, titled “Disaster and Mental Health” will explore simple ways of enhancing mental health of affected persons and communities.

It will be a theoretical/practical workshop with the aim of empowering basic health workers to make a difference in attending to affected people suffering from various diseases in the earthquake-hit areas.

Dr Gisela Perren Klinger, a Swiss child psychiatrists, Dr Unaiza Niaz and her team would conduct the course.

PASBAN: The Pasban on Sunday feared that another million people were on the verge of freezing to death in the quake-hit areas amid snow fall, sub-zero temperatures and ‘insufficient state response’.

Addressing a protest demonstration outside the Karachi Press Club, Pasban Karachi President Syed Ashraf Hussain contradicted the official death toll figures, and claimed that some 300,000 people were dead and hundreds of thousands vulnerable to the harsh winter.

Hew said that on this highly urgent humanitarian issue, the silence of the world community and international civil organizations was regrettable.

He criticized the government for seeking foreign loans that had increased foreign liabilities and as yet had made no significant impact on the lives of those in the NWFP and the Azad Jammu and Kashmir.

He said non-provision of adequate technical support from the West was an insult to humanity. —PPI