The KP government is battling at least 14 priority diseases in the province’s 13 flood-affected districts

Several water-borne diseases have tested the health authorities’ capacity in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, with more than 383,547 cases of various diseases reported in at least 13 districts of the province since the latest monsoon floods wreaked havoc across the country.

Since September 1, health officials have been collecting data from permanent health facilities, while district health staff at medical camps set up in hard-to-reach areas have been reporting data since August 20.

According to data available with the Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Directorate General Health Services (DGHS), at least 260,883 cases were reported in medical camps set up after August 20, while another 122,664 cases were reported in medical facilities in flood-affected areas as of October 6. The DGHS has been working hard to combat at least 14 priority diseases in the province’s 13 flood-affected districts.

It is worth noting that the aforementioned figures do not include any data on flood-related diseases from the Mohmand and Khyber tribal districts, which were also affected by the recent floods.

Reports indicate that acute diarrhoea has become the most common health issue in the recent floods, as it often does in areas where clean drinking water becomes polluted due to flood water. Between September 11 and October 3, KP health officials recorded at least 77,187 cases of acute diarrhoea.

The southern districts of KP reported the most cases, with Dera Ismail Khan reporting 14,728 people, followed by Tank with 6,092 and Lakki Marwat with 5,367. Meanwhile, Charsadda reported 12,550 cases of acute diarrhoea, followed by Malakand with 6,916 cases, Nowshera with 6,020 cases, and Peshawar with 5,871 cases.

Similarly, in recent weeks, 2,887 cases of bloody diarrhoea and 4,363 cases of acute watery diarrhoea have been reported from the affected districts, with the majority of them occurring in Dir Lower.

Moreover, in the three weeks since September 11, at least 69, 336 cases of acute respiratory infection (ARI) have been reported, with Dera Ismail Khan topping the list with 14,060 cases, followed by Charsadda with 8,893 cases and Lower Dir with 8,241. The districts of Nowshera and Swat reported 7,281 and 5,830 ARI cases, respectively.

The increased number of skin infection cases is the third most common disease the health department is dealing with in flood-affected areas since the recent floods. In the last three weeks, the DGHS has recorded 57,681 such cases. Charsadda and Dera Ismail Khan Districts, with 16,078 and 14,671 cases, respectively, yet again remain at the top of the unwanted list. The Nowshera district had 5,949 cases, while the Tank district had 5,568 cases of skin diseases that emerged after the floods.

Furthermore, over 12,576 cases of eye diseases, 12,033 cases of malaria, 4.753 injury cases, 2,781 suspected dengue cases, 2,562 suspected cases of typhoid, 465 acute viral hepatitis cases, 121 cases of measles, 79 cases of snake bite, and 79,590 cases of other nature caused by floods have been reported in the last month.

According to department of health spokesperson Attaullah Khan, snake bites were an immediate health hazard during the floods, but diarrhoea quickly surpassed all other cases as the damaged water channels became infested with a variety of waterborne diseases.

“The health department has an Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response System (IDSRS) that routinely checks for 45 notified diseases in order to prevent outbreaks. An outbreak is defined as 10 to 15 cases from any union council or small residential area. In response to such cases, we set up mobile clinics and isolate the area from its surroundings. Immediately following the flood, the IDSRS established mobile clinics in various districts and provided emergency medical treatment to thousands of people,” the spokesperson stated.

In describing the difficulties encountered, Attaullah Khan said that while some areas, such as Malakand, Dir, Charsadda, and Nowshera, were relatively easy to reach, health teams encountered difficulties in reaching thousands of people in urgent need in places such as Upper and Lower Kohistan.

“The two districts of Kohistan were completely cut off from the rest of the country. However, thanks to the brilliant idea of Upper Kohistan’s district health officer, emergency medicine was airlifted to the region, as every helicopter that went on a rescue mission brought along as much medicine as it could carry for the hundreds of thousands of people stranded there,” he added.

The World Health Organization (WHO) and the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) have also provided much-needed cooperation in providing timely medical assistance in many areas, according to the spokesperson.

“The WHO has provided 3 million vaccines for two Typhoid Conjugate Vaccine (TCV) campaigns, which will take place in 13 union councils across seven districts from October 10 to 14 and October 17 to 21. In addition to providing vehicles in Swat and Dera Ismail Khan, the two organisations have also provided emergency medicine in several districts,” Attaullah Khan elaborated.

“UNICEF and WHO also established tent hospitals in disaster-stricken areas to provide health services to those in need. In the beginning, more people were treated at mobile camps and tent hospitals. However, as our regular health facilities have been restored, the influx of people has shifted to those facilities,“ the spokesperson for the health department added.

He further said that the department of health was also providing mother and neonatal child healthcare in flood-affected areas because Lady Health Workers visited the health facilities there frequently.