The Health Minister of Sindh, Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, stated on Tuesday that there is an urgent need for more female doctors in the flood-affected districts.
This is because hundreds of thousands of vulnerable women and children who seek healthcare are uncomfortable being treated by men.
The minister pointed out that the inability to reach villages that had been devastated by flooding was a serious barrier that was making it difficult to carry out assistance activities.
The scope of the destruction left everyone in a state of disbelief. In Committee Room No. 1 of the Sindh Assembly, the provincial health minister informed the press that the province’s health infrastructure, crops, irrigation system, information technology facilities, and road network had all been destroyed.
We are spoiled for choice when it comes to medications. On the other hand, a lack of access makes it difficult for a significant number of government personnel and non-governmental organizations to participate in humanitarian efforts.
She stated that people have no choice but to drink contaminated water because stagnant water has become a source of illness and there is no other option.
She remarked, “Right now it’s not possible to work in a coordinated fashion,” referring to the difficulty in coordinating the activities of a large number of relief organizations.
“Right now it’s not possible to work in a coordinated manner.”
The minister announced that the government of Punjab had dispatched seven teams of healthcare professionals to assist with flood relief efforts.
These healthcare professionals include male and female doctors, paramedics, and nurses.
The minister was concerned that an outbreak of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) could take place in these regions because many animals had traveled from flood-stricken parts of Balochistan to Sindh.
She said, in response to a question concerning the number of internally displaced persons (IDPs), that 2,583,003 of them were women, 102,520 of them were pregnant IDPs, and 891 of them were in shelter camps.
According to the minister, the medical facilities at the hospital attend to around 70,000 patients every day.
Acute respiratory illness, diarrhoeal diseases, probable malaria, skin infections, and snake and dog bites are common in flood-affected areas, and since July, health professionals have treated nearly 800,000 people for these conditions combined.
At the press conference, there were several people there, including Qasim Siraj Soomro, who is the Secretary of Health in Parliament.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
