PESHAWAR, April 7: NWFP Governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah has said that increasing deforestation is causing a host of ailments.

Speaking at a function held to mark the “International Health Day” organized by the WHO at Khyber Teaching Hospital, he asked the people to maintain a clean environment so that they and their children could grow up in a healthful environment.

The noise, environmental, air and water pollution have been the result of a casual attitude of the people towards environment, he said.

“We are responsible for this awesome situation. No outsider could be blamed for it, it’s we who wreaked havoc on the environment,” said Mr Shah.

In the wake of the prevalent polluted environment, “we are heading towards a collective suicide” and the only way out is to educate the masses regarding the importance of clean environs, he said.

According to him, it was the duty of the people to take care of cleanliness in their surroundings and refrain from dumping waste and dirt in the open.

Children being a delicate segment of the community were more vulnerable to pollution than were adults and “we have the responsibility to save them,” the governor said.

DG Health, Brigadier Dr Habibur Rehman, was of the view that lack of awareness on the part of the people regarding health and education had been the root cause of burgeoning pollution.

According to him, the government was making all-out efforts with its limited resources to provide people basic health facilities.

The government, he said, had appointed doctors in remote areas as well with a view to catering to the healthcare needs of the people.

Owing to the increasing number of child patients, the NWFP badly needed a hospital where specialized healthcare services could be provided to the children, he said.

A doctor claimed that 300 million children suffered worldwide from malnutrition, the major cause of which was their less weight.

Pakistan had the highest infant mortality rate in the world, said the doctor, adding that of the total 5.5 million births in the country, 2.7 million died even before attaining the age of one month.

DG Environment said the level of carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide in the air had gone up a great deal that caused respiratory-tract infections among children.

According to the WHO, he said, only 40 per cent of the solid waste was collected in the city. Most of the solid waste was thrown into the drains which ultimately got mingled with water in the Kabul River.

WHO’s representative, Ibrahim Jabal, said that children had every right to get clean water and sanitation facilities. He said the UN health agencies were assisting Pakistan in improving the healthcare scenario.