SEHWAN: The emergency ward at the main government hospital in Sehwan, a small town in southern Pakistan, is overwhelmed.
On a recent visit, Reuters witnessed hundreds of peoplecrammed into rooms and corridors, desperately seeking treatmentfor malaria and other illnesses that are spreading fast afterthe country’s worst floods in decades.
Amid the crush, Naveed Ahmed, a young doctor in theemergency response department of the Abdullah Shah Institute ofHealth Sciences, is surrounded by five or six people trying toget his attention.
The 30-year-old keeps his cool as stretched emergencyservices struggle to cope with thousands of patients arrivingfrom miles around after their homes were submerged under waterwhen heavy rains fell in August and September.
“We become so overworked at times that I feel likecollapsing and going on an intravenous drip,” a smiling Ahmedtold Reuters as he sipped a cup of tea in the hospital’s canteenduring a short break.
“But it’s because of the prayers of these patients that wekeep going.”
Ahmed is on the frontline of the battle to limit sicknessand death across southern Pakistan, where hundreds of towns andvillages were cut off by rising waters. The deluge has affectedaround 33 million people in a country of 220 million.
Most of the estimated 300-400 patients arriving at hisclinic each morning, many of them children, are suffering frommalaria and diarrhoea, although with winter approaching, Ahmedfears other illnesses will become more common.
“I hope people displaced by the floods can get back to theirhomes before winter; (if not) they will be exposed torespiratory illnesses and pneumonia living in tents,” he said.
Hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis who fled their homes areliving in government camps set up to accommodate them, or simplyout in the open.
Hundreds of thousands who fled their homes areliving in government camps
Stagnant floodwaters, spread over hundreds of squarekilometres (miles), may take two to six months to recede in someplaces, and have already led to widespread cases of skin and eyeinfections, diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid and dengue fever.
The crisis hits Pakistan at a particularly bad time. Withits economy in crisis, propped up by loans from theInternational Monetary Fund, it does not have the resources tocope with the longer term effects of the flooding.
Nearly 1,700 people have been killed in the floods caused byheavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers. Pakistan estimates thecost of the damage at $30 billion, and the government and UnitedNations have blamed the catastrophe on climate change.
Over 340 people have died of diseases caused by the floods,authorities have said.
According to the health department of Sindh province, the worst-affected region, 17,285 cases of malaria have been confirmed since July 1.
Anticipating the risk of disease outbreaks after the rescue and relief phase of the floods, the Sindh government is trying to hire more than 5,000 health professionals on a temporary basis in districts most at risk.
“We are short of human resources considering the magnitudeof the burden of disease following the unprecedented rains andfloods,” Qasim Soomro, provincial lawmaker and parliamentaryhealth secretary of the Sindh government, told Reuters.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has raised concern aboutan impending “second disaster” of water-borne diseases spreadingacross the country, particularly in Sindh.
In the hospital ward in Sehwan, a young man with a highfever was having fits on a bed outside the main emergency room.His mother ran to Ahmed, who attended the patient and asked amale nurse to place cold pads on his forehead.
The air was heavy with humidity, and there were not enoughair conditioners to cool temperatures in overcrowded corridorslined with beds. The wards were filled to capacity and a handfulof beds had more than one patient on them.
Ahmed, a graduate of a university in China, described thepressure he and other medics were under.
“With such influx, we … cannot wait for test results foreach patient to start the treatment,” he said, adding he beginsadministering medicine for malaria as soon as he sees somesymptoms.
The institute in Sehwan serves people from neighbouringtowns and districts, including those living in camps while thewaters recede and rebuilding can begin.
Jagan Shahani’s daughter fell unconscious after getting afever around a week ago. He used a boat to get out of hisflooded village of Bhajara and flagged down a car on the nearbyroad that took them to Sehwan.
“Doctors said she had malaria,” he said late last week.“This is our fourth night here. There is nothing here to eat butAllah has been very kind to provide everything,” added Shahani,whose 15-year-old daughter Hameeda is now recovering.
On the outskirts of town, hundreds of displaced peoplequeued up for rations being distributed at Lal Bagah, a tentsettlement where displaced families prepared tea and breakfaston open fires.
The Indus Highway that runs past Sehwan is dotted with tentcamps for displaced people.
Some are beginning to return home where waters haveretreated far enough, but not all are so lucky.
“There is no one here to help me but Allah. I pray to Allahthat the waters recede in my village and I can return to myhome,” said Madad Ali Bozdar.
Bozdar, 52, is from Bubak, a town located on thenorth-eastern bank of Manchar Lake. Speaking on Friday, he saidhis village was still under 10 to 12 feet (3-4 metres) of water.He expected to be able to go back in around two months’ time.(Editing by Mike Collett-White and Raju Gopalakrishnan)
