PAKISTAN: Thousands of earthquake children require urgent medical care - UNICEF

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

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.

[ENDS]