PESHAWAR, Jan 16: Lack of coordination among relief agencies working in quake-affected areas has been hindering relief activities. “The main problem is lack of coordination among various agencies working in earthquake-effected areas. The role of local authorities has also been very weak,” said an official stationed in Mansehra in connection with the relief work.
According to him, lack of coordination among international, national and local organizations is the reason behind duplication of activities. For instance, he said, several agencies had been working at camps and field hospitals to provide maternal and child-health facilities to the quake-ravaged population, but the local population is yet to get the desired level of medical assistance.
“The provincial government had agreed that the international organization build health outlets at such locations that could be accessible to the local population,” he said, adding that several relief organizations are carrying out similar activities, which results into duplication.
Citing a coordination meeting of donor agencies in Abbottabad about two months back wherein besides the provincial health minister, the federal health minister and country heads of international donor agencies had decided that every relief agency would coordinate with others with a view to trickle down maximum benefits to the people, but there is no coordination as yet.
Executive district officers (EDOs) health of the five quake-hit districts, including Abbottabad, Mansehra, Battagram, Shangla and Kohistan have no role in coordinating relief activities in their respective districts.
“We have not been invited to the coordination meeting of the donor organizations despite the fact that we have all the record and ways required for carrying out relief activities,” said an EDO of one of the affected districts.
He said that 80 per cent of the healthcare units had been completely or partially destroyed in the October 8 earthquake and weren’t usable.
The EDO said that the government should first concentrate on rebuilding of health units, but said these health units should be built at locations where the people could visit.
“Most of the health units, including rural health centres, basic health units and dispensaries had been built on political basis. But now, it was a blessing in disguise that the government identify right places to the donor agencies so they could establish new health units,” he added.
A doctor associated with an international relief organization said that inclement weather and communication was another major problem hindering relief efforts. However, he felt that it was beyond anyone’s control.
Dr Mohammad Rafiq of the Save the Children, US, said that they were required to work in collaboration with the government. “We have appointed permanent staff for earthquake affected areas for our project is called the Pakistan Earthquake Response Team (PERT). They are relatively paid higher wages so they could work with devotion and dedication in these hard areas,” he said.
Dr Rafiq said that his organization had signed an MoU with the provincial government to establish a field hospital at Banna Allai, Battagram which would provide interim extended medical care until the Rural Health Centre, Banna Alai is fully established and starts functioning.
Apart from this, the Supreme Court would establish temporary primary health care (PHC) facilities in the Maira Camp, three Basic Health Units in Tehsil Allai, 124 health houses in Battagram district and strengthening of the PHC system, including the health management information system (HMIS).
A local doctor said that there was one doctor, three LHVs, one female technician and 13 medical technicians for a population of 0.15million tehsil Allai, which had a RHC and dispensary, 13 BHUs and a Leprosy Centre.
There were no private health facilities in the Tehsil.
Due to non-availability of a female doctor and shortage of trained birth attendants, it was estimated that less than 15 per cent of females had access to mother and child health and ante-natal services.
An EDO said that the situation could be true for other regions of quake-hit areas.