KATHMANDU, 3 September 2007 (IRIN) - WHO concerned at increasing risk of post-flood diseases

KATHMANDU, 3 September 2007 (IRIN) - The UN World Health Organization (WHO) in Nepal in a new report has said it is concerned about the increasing risk of diarrhoeal and vector-borne diseases in the country due to recent floods and landslides.

Torrential rain from 27 July to 31 August caused floods and landslides all over the country, killing 146 people, displacing more than 22,277 and affecting 467,742, according to the WHO report on 3 September entitled Emergency Health Action in Nepal.

There is no major disease epidemic as yet, but government officials said there was cause for concern, as the risk of disease is associated more with post-flood situations like displacement, availability of safe water and sanitation facilities. Disease outbreaks are also affected by overcrowding, the underlying health status of individuals and the availability of health care services, they said.

WHO warned that contaminated water meant there was a heightened risk of the spread of diarrhoeal-related diseases, including dysentery, cholera, typhoid and gastroenteritis. There was also a high risk of vector-borne diseases like malaria and Japanese Encephalitis (JE) due to waterlogged areas, which have posed a major challenge and even hindered access to the worst affected areas, the report said.

Outbreaks of communicable diseases are common every monsoon in Nepal, but this year's diarrhoea and cholera were worse in Rautahat (110km southeast of Kathmandu) and Kalikot (700km northwest of Kathmandu), said WHO. Government health officials said they regretted they were unable to prevent 39 deaths for lack of staff and medicines at village health centres.

"This incident sadly illustrates the importance of a functional peripheral health system, community-based surveillance, early warning, prompt control measures and health education," said the report.

WHO said this year's flooding was much worse than in the last two years. "It is too early to write off the risk. The monsoon season is not over and endemic diseases continue to claim a heavy toll in remote districts," the report said, adding that there had been increased cases of viral fever, acute respiratory infections, eye and ear infections and skin ailments.

Insecurity

"The political situation is worsening and there are often strikes and a very insecure environment," said Ram Hari Shah, a local health worker in Mahotari, 130km south of the capital.

There have been violent protests in the Terai region of southern Nepal, according to local non-governmental organisations (NGOs). Health workers are afraid to visit some villages as they fear they might be attacked.

WHO agreed that strikes and civil unrest had made it difficult to conduct rapid assessments and deliver emergency relief. Health officials said more attention was being given to villages which were safer to get to such as those in the mid-west rather than those in the central-southern and eastern regions, where there had been more violence.

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