ABBOTTABAD, Jan 11: Federal Health Minister Mohammad Naseer Khan on Thursday lauded the World Health Organisation's role in providing medical facilities to the people of earthquake-hit areas.

Speaking at an inaugural ceremony of a rural health centre in Chowki, Mansehra district, the minister said that prefabricated RHCs had been completed and equipped with the help of the WHO, the AmeriCares, the ministry of health and the department of health, NWFP.

He said that under the project, eight damaged RHCs were being restored.

WHO regional director Dr Hussein A. Gezairy said that he was happy to see that the people affected by the earthquake had been rehabilitated. He stressed the need for an early disease warning system, immunisation against infectious diseases and efforts to eradicate polio.

NWFP Health Minister Inayatullah Khan appreciated the WHO, Armed Forces and NGOs for their support to the primary health services in the province.