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Today In History |
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On September 8, 1905
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Pitts Pirates strand NL record 18 men on base and lose to Reds 8-3
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Thousands of earthquake children require urgent medical care says UNICEF |
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 ISLAMABAD, 12 Oct 2005 (IRIN) - More than 300 children injured in
Saturday's devastating regional earthquake have been airlifted to the
Pakistani capital, Islamabad, over the last four days. Most of children
have head injuries, broken limbs or are severely traumatised by their
experiences, said Akhtar Haq, head of local NGO, Friends of the Child,
working at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS).
"Medical support is sufficient so far here, but there is a shortage of
bandages. We need blankets, sweaters and warm clothes for children and
also for their guardians or relatives," Haq added.
“These are
children who, amongst the thousands hurt, have been lucky to be pulled
out of the rubble and brought to the hospital for medical care,” United
Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) health officer Nabila Zaka said during
a visit to the hospital.
The earthquake in Pakistan destroyed
about 1,000 hospitals and that loss is causing major problems in
providing urgent medical treatment for thousands of injured survivors,
the World Health Organization (WHO) has said.
In the town of
Balekot, 100 km northeast of Islamabad and close to earthquake's
epicentre, a makeshift field hospital established by the Pakistani army
has been trying to deal with up to 1,000 seriously injured people each
day, who have walked or crawled into the town from outlying areas.
Doctors at the rudimentary health facility said they were short of most
medical supplies and were only able to offer first aid to most of the
injured.
In the aftermath of Saturday's 7.6-magnitude
earthquake, Pakistan has made an urgent request to the international
community for field hospitals, along with antibiotics, surgical
equipment, fracture treatment kits, anti-typhoid drugs, and other
medical supplies.
"The devastation has created major obstacles
in urgently helping the thousands of injured people to get the medical
help they need," said a statement from the WHO. "Many health workers,
including doctors and nurses, have died or been seriously injured."
The WHO also said there's an urgent need for measles vaccines for children, as well as clean water and sanitation.
UNICEF
health officer Tamur Mueenuddin said he witnessed terrible injuries
sustained by children in the city of Mansehra, not far from the
epicentre of the earthquake. Mueenuddin said he saw children with
twisted limbs and abdominal lacerations.
"There are 2,000
children needing operations there – they're being taken in batches of
200 down to the [local] hospital where five medical teams are working
round the clock," he said.
Virtually every medical facility in
the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi is packed with earthquake
survivors. Wards are already full and now corridors are lined with
survivors, many with multiple injuries. |
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