Pneumonia Cases Rocket
In Pakistan Quake ZoneBy Abu Arqam Naqash
30 November, 2005
Planet Ark
MUZAFFARABAD - Hundreds of people, most of them children, have contracted pneumonia in Pakistan's earthquake-stricken zone as harsh winter weather sets in, health officials said on Tuesday.
But the United Nations and government officials denied reports of any cold-related deaths so far in the region where more than 73,000 people were killed in the Oct. 8 earthquake.
"Cases of pneumonia are coming in. They're in the hundreds, affectees are mostly children," said Sardar Mehmood Ahmed, district health officer in Muzaffarabad, the devastated capital of Pakistani Kashmir.The quake left more than three million people homeless in Pakistani Kashmir and adjoining North West Frontier Province, which bore the brunt of the biggest disaster in Pakistan's 57-year history.
The Himalayan region got its first harsh winter weather at the weekend with up to 8 inches (20 cm) of snow falling at some altitudes and up to 1.2 inches (32 mm) of rain in some lower areas, bringing relief operations grinding to a halt.
Aid agencies are racing to ensure that homeless survivors get adequate shelter and enough food to see them through the winter, Failing this, disease could sweep through cold, poorly nourished survivors, causing a second wave of deaths, aid officials say.
The earthquake also killed about 1,300 people on the Indian side of the disputed Kashmir region.
Relief operations resumed on Monday after the weather cleared but the cold has persisted.
Ahmed said pneumonia was common in Kashmir during the winter but said it would be worse this year because so many people were living in poor shelter.
"Such cases are bound to increase but we are prepared for that," he said.
FUNDS STILL SHORT
UN and Health Ministry officials denied reports that two or three people had died because of the cold. The UN Children's Fund said there had as yet been no dramatic increase in the number of patients suffering from cold-related diseases.
"There has not been any confirmation of cold-related deaths. It is a little bit too early to speak about the consequences of the cold weather because it has just started," said UNICEF health officer Tamur Mueenuddin.
Authorities hope people in high-altitude settlements will come down to tent villages on valley floors for the winter, but most people have chosen to stick it out at their ruined homes.
This month Pakistan won pledges worth more than $6 billion from world donors for relief and reconstruction operations in the quake-hit zone.
But most was earmarked for long-term reconstruction, while UN and other aid officials say funds are short for a six-month emergency operation to keep survivors alive this winter.
"Even as sufficient pledges have been made for recovery and reconstruction, relief is still less than 50 percent funded," UN emergency operations chief Andrew MacLeod said in a statement.
The United Nations has appealed for $525 million for emergency relief operations.
(Additional reporting by Zeeshan Haider)
