The Health Department has decided to send medicine purchased for district headquarters and tehsil headquarters hospitals to flooded areas in the province.
A senior Health Department official told The Express Tribune that the medicines bought for outpatient departments and emergency departments at DHQs and THQs were being diverted to flood-hit districts. The World Health Organisation (WHO) and the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) had also provided a cache of medicines for people in flood-hit areas.
“We had 300,000 water purification tablets in Multan of which 200,000 have been distributed in the flood-hit districts in south Punjab. Another 200,000 tablets have been sent to areas in Narowal, Sialkot, Gujranwala, Gujrat and Sheikhupura,” said Dr Mubashar Malik, director of the Centre for Communicable Disease Control.
He said that the medicines sent included amoxiline (an antibiotic), cortic tablets and syrup, Zyrtec, and sulphate tablets. These medicines are used to treat allergies, diarrhoea and scabies, he said.
Dr Malik said that the medicines, which are provided to patients for free at DHQ and THQ hospitals, were sent to the flood-hits area because it was an emergency situation there. “We thought it fit to first treat people there. The medicines for DHQs and THQs can be bought later,” he said.
Health Secretary Hassan Iqbal has directed all executive district officers and the medical superintendents of hospitals in the flooded districts to remain on high alert and provide treatment to patients to the best of their abilities. “A plan is also under consideration to send a team of doctors along with medical students and paramedics to the flood-hit areas. These teams will establish camps in the flood-hit districts and provide medical facilities to the patients there. Teams from teaching hospitals and medical colleges will also be sent,” another Health Department official said.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 20th, 2013.