Occurrence of diarrhea, abdominal diseases on the rise

The occurrence of diarrhea and other abdominal diseases is on the rise in city mainly on account of using contaminated water. According to Pakistan Society of Family Physicians President Dr Aftab Iqbal Sheikh, the intensity of problem could not be quantified due to absence of an accurate health management information system in the teaching hospitals of Lahore.
Apart from the, a large number of patients of gastro-enteritis went undocumented as they received treatment at private clinics of doctors, homeopaths and hakims.
Recently, he stated that some people lost their lives in Bund road areas due to use of contaminated water. He added that his society also established a camp there and after examination of a large number of people, it was revealed that water being supplied there contained contamination.
He further said that complaints about contamination of water in the supply lines were being received.
Naveed, a resident of Bund road said erratic supply of water was a major cause of the problem. "A negative pressure is created in the pipes in the absence of water, causing sewage from the surroundings to enter the line. This contaminated water reaches the people who consume it without boiling, resulting in an increase in gastro-enteritis cases," he added.
According to him, ice being sold in the city was another major cause of the problem as the same was manufactured under unhygienic conditions, while the use of contaminated water in the manufacture of ice was also common.
Sources in the health department told Business Recorder the department had collected water samples from the water supply line, tubewells and ice factories. However, he added the results of the analysis were being awaited.
According to them, the government was formulating an integrated and comprehensive plan to overcome water borne diseases. Hepatitis was a major public health problem all over the world and about one million chronically infected persons die every year due to that infection and its complications while Hepatitis-C virus infects three to four million persons every year. The government would also appreciate local manufacturing of anti-hepatitis medicines so that hepatitis related medicines could be accessible to the common man, the sources concluded.