Pneumonia toll rises in Pakistani quake zone
More than 700 people suffering from pneumonia, hypothermia and other illnesses are being treated at hospitals today as the onset of winter in Pakistani Kashmir took its toll on the 3.5 million people who lost their homes in last month’s devastating earthquake.
Eight people have died due to the bad weather, and doctors said the situation could worsen in the coming weeks if arrangements were not made quickly to provide adequate winter shelters to quake survivors.
Rain and snow began lashing Pakistan’s part of Kashmir late on Saturday, blocking several roads and grounding helicopters used to ferry aid to remote areas. Since the quake struck on October 8, killing more than 87,000 people, aid agencies have been warning of another disaster among the survivors, who have been living in tents in the Himalayan highlands.
“We received about 200 patients with cold-related diseases in the past 12 hours,” said Dr Bashir Rahman at the main hospital in Muzaffarabad. Health officials said more than 700 people were being treated at hospitals for hypothermia, pneumonia and other respiratory problems.
“Most people were taken to hospitals on Tuesday night, and patients are still pouring in,” Dr Rahman said.
Silvia Pasti, a Unicef official in Muzaffarabad, said workers were collecting information about the outbreaks of illnesses and were doing whatever was possible to protect children from the cold conditions.
“We know that people with such diseases are being taken to hospitals, and we were expecting it,” she said.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs in Pakistan has said the onset of winter conditions was severely hampering relief operations.
“This development shows why it is very important for us to do more – and quickly, too – as we keep the focus on the relief phase,” UN Emergency Operations Chief Andrew MacLoed said in a statement.
He also appealed for more relief funds.
UN official Elisabeth Byrs said yesterday that of the 500,000 tents the United Nations purchased and stockpiled for quake relief, about 165,000 have yet to be delivered, adding that stoves and corrugated iron sheeting were also urgently needed.
“The race to provide suitable shelter in time is not lost yet, but the consequences resulting from a lack of funds could result in more deaths of vulnerable people,” said Byrs.
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