500 babies a day in Punjab flood zone

Pregnant women being provided special food kits as part of the relief plan. PHOTO: SHAHID ALI

LAHORE: Health officials say they are prepared to handle 500 deliveries a day and have calculated that 14,166 women will give birth in one month in flooded areas of the Punjab.

“Looking after pregnant women is
part of our relief plan and we’re sending special food kits to them,” said Dr Muhammad Aslam Chaudhry, the director general of the Health Department.

“We have a record of the women who are nearing delivery.”

Dr Chaudhry said women were being sent to district headquarters hospitals in Muzzafargarh, Rahim Yar Khan and Sadiqabad for delivery.

Health secretary Fawad Hasan Fawad said 7,621 pregnant or lactating women had been sent the special food kits so far, and more were being sent every day.

Another Health Department official said 59 trucks loaded with drugs have been sent to the flooded districts.

Currently, some 2,500 doctors and 3,000 female health workers are operating in flooded areas of Punjab while medical teams from private hospitals and other organisations are also active.

Dr Anwar Janjua, director of the department’s Health Management Information System, said they had sent 10 new ambulances to the flooded areas and were planning to send 50 more.

He said the only people that were not being reached were those in inaccessible areas in South Punjab who were unwilling to leave their homes behind.