Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani has called upon the international community to help Pakistan rebuild health infrastructure destroyed by floods because the government alone can not accomplish this uphill task.
"We needed billion of rupees to rebuild the health infrastructure damaged by the floods," the Prime Minister said here on Monday while addressing the distribution of long lasting impregnated nets for malaria to the provinces.
The bed nets, he handed over to the provinces for the flood victims, were provided in substantial quantity by the WHO, UNICEF and the Global Fund. The Prime Minister said that the floods have destroyed health infrastructure across the country including Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan and hundreds of basic health units have been washed away.
The Prime Minister said that the government timely responded to tackle the fear of epidemic outbreak and diseases in the flood affected areas by taking required emergency measures. Gilani said that the extent of damage could be quantify from the fact that as many as 236 health facilities including basic health units, dispensaries and hospitals were severely damaged while 200 were totally destroyed by the floods.
"We have set up Health Co-ordination hubs and a Disease Early Warning System with a 479 fixed health centers and 544 mobile outreach camps to cater to the needs in the affected areas," he said adding that in addition 33,222 Lady Health Workers have been engaged in relief activities in 57 districts of the country.
Though, he said, the government had prevented the outbreak of epidemics to a large extent by taking timely intervention, the current situation could lead to the breeding of disease vectors of malaria that underline the need for a timely action on the part of all stakeholders to cope with the challenge.
He said as the flood water recedes, the threat of malaria would grow and the vigilance and surveillance along with effective preventive measures are needed to be put in place to avert the threat. The Prime Minister said that the Ministry of Health has moved in providing a preventive net of health services to avert epidemic anywhere in the country.
Gilani also referred to distribution of Watan Cards to the flood affected families, saying that each family affected by the floods would get Rs 20,000 as compensations in the first phase while another Rs 80,000 in the second phase.
He said that National Database Registration Authority (NADRA) is registering the eligible people and the government had also set up National Oversight Disaster Management Council (NODMC) by taking representation of all the federating units so that they could oversee the rehabilitation process and ensure transparent utilisation of money.