WHO donates kits to support flood response

Islamabad : The World Health Organisation (WHO) donated Interagency Emergency Health Kits (IEHK) and IEC material to the National Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Network (NHEPRN) in support of the response and relief efforts in the wake of the recent floods.

WHO Representative Dr Palitha Mahipala handed over the kits and IEC material to Dr Sabina Durrani, Director of NEHPRN, at a ceremony held at the WHO Country Office here on Thursday.

WHO donation included 15 IEHK 2015, Basic Module which contained medical supplies for 3,000 people for one month to meet different health needs in humanitarian emergencies and disasters. It also included 100,000printed copies of IEC material focusing on the transmission of Dengue, its prevention, symptoms, and immediate treatment.

Recently, the provincial office of WHO Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa donated 15 IEHK kits to Department of Health, KP, whereas Balochistan’s WHO office donated 40 IEHK Kits to Health Department in Balochistan to handle emergencies.

In Pakistan, floods bring death and destruction in most parts of the country every year. Flash floods disrupt the social and economic fabric of society and disturb the ecosystem functions and biodiversity. As a result of floods, immediate danger to communities is in the form of physical injury, loss of life, damage to infrastructure, mass migration and the increase in the number of the risk of water-borne diseases.

WHO kits contain medical supplies which will help the doctors to treat flood affectees in emergency. Usually, flood affectees contract water-borne diseases. Dengue is one of the most common post-flood viral disease which affects thousands of people every year. IEC material provided by WHO will help the government to communicate the risk factors related to Dengue in the community and spread awareness about it.