WHO assures to provide essential healthcare services in flood-affected areas

• World Health Organisation’s Country Representative in Pakistan Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala said the WHO was working on a plan to assist in future preparedness for having effective healthcare systems.
• He said the recent devastating floods had caused serious damage to health service delivery in the affected areas which had resulted in various health risks.
• The WHO country head said, “An upward trend was observed in affected areas for various diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, malaria, dengue fever, skin infections and typhoid.”

ISLAMABAD: The World Health Organisation (WHO) has assured to continue to provide essential healthcare services in flood-affected areas of the country.

Speaking at a media briefing in Islamabad, the World Health Organisation’s Country Representative in Pakistan Dr Palitha Gunarathna Mahipala said the WHO was working on a plan to assist in future preparedness for having effective healthcare systems.

He said the recent devastating floods had caused serious damage to health service delivery in the affected areas which had resulted in various health risks.

The WHO country head said, “An upward trend was observed in affected areas for various diseases such as diarrhoea, cholera, malaria, dengue fever, skin infections and typhoid.”

He said keeping in view the flood devastation, the organisation had expanded its operations on ground by establishing three Operational Hubs at Naseerabad, Sukkhar and Hyderabad, and 10 emergency operation centres in flood-affected areas of Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

On October 8, World Bank Country Director Najy Benhassine had said the bank was allocating $ 2 billion funds from existing projects financed by the bank for emergency operations in flood affected areas to support Pakistan.

He had said this, while flanked by his team, in a meeting with Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Mohammad Ishaq Dar at the Finance Division in Islamabad.

The World Bank country director had further informed that around $ 1.5 billion funds would be mobilised this year due to emergency situation.

The finance minister had welcomed Najy Benhassine and his team and shared economic challenges that the country was currently facing. He had said that the present government was cognizant of the issues and was taking pragmatic steps to resolve bottlenecks to growth.

“The present government is committed to set the economy on sustainable and inclusive growth path,” he had said. He had also informed about the devastations caused by the recent floods in the country.