KARACHI, May 22: The ongoing heatwave has led to an increase in the incidence of a large number of diseases in the city.

A press release issued by the College of Family Medicine Pakistan on Wednesday says that general practitioners in all the five districts of Karachi have reported cases of diarrhoea, vomiting, sunstroke, skin rash, eruptions, asthma, general malaria, headache, eye ache and eye problems.

“The city government has so far failed to adopt appropriate measures regarding diarrhoea and vomiting which may lead to epidemic stage. There are no measures taken regarding sale of ripe and rotten fruit, sale of sugarcane juices, unhygienic conditions due to overflow of gutters, heaps of garbage on all roads, mixing of drinking water with seepage dirty water, etc.”

The press release adds that the media, especially PTV, has failed to create awareness among the public regarding this type of seasonal problems. “The media has also failed to remind the inspector-general of police of a promise made in March that in 15 days silencers of rickshaws will be replaced. However, nothing has been done in this regard.”

The press release advises people, especially the elderly and children, to avoid sunlight and heat, particularly during mid-day, use a lot of water and ORS (Nimkol) in sunstroke and diarrhoea cases, wear dark eye glasses, avoid taking fast food and sugarcane juice, use cold water sponging in high temperature and maintain cleanliness as far as possible.