On BBC Radio 4 this morning, MSF field worker Dr Ahmed Mukhtar Amin discussed rising concerns that cholera could become a major problem in the Swat region of flood-hit Pakistan. As the threat of cholera could be aggravated by a lack of clean drinking water, MSF been extracting and distributing about 100,000 litres a day. This is still not enough, however, to provide for the growing numbers of affected people.
Click here to listen to Dr Ahmed Mukhtar Amin's interview on BBC Radio 4's Today programme
This MSF water distribution truck provides water to victims of the floods who are displaced and in need of clean drinking water. Nowshera, 27th July 2010. Photo by Ton Koene/MSF
Malnutrition is likely to be the main challenge in the future for the population. Malnutrition is already an issue in areas of the country; food shortages caused by the floods are likely to seriously worsen this problem, and push the situation "over the edge."
Click here to read updates on MSF's activities in response to the floods by region.
Transcript
[DR AMIN] Safe drinking water had been an issue since the start of this problem and as you said some of the wells are infected by the flood waters and this is why one of our main priorities in the first and second weeks was to bomb (sic) as much clean water as possible. In Swat where there is a risk of cholera now we have been producing around 100,000 litres per day but that is still so far less than what is really needed.
[INTERVIEWER] You used the word “bomb” the area with water. I mean, logisitically, how do you get, you know, hundreds of thousands of litres of water into an area?
[DR AMIN] Yes, so actually, what we did there, we count on collaboration with the community leaders and schools, teachers so we went. Some of the wells in the schools, in some of the mosques were still well-protected so in a condition that it would be publicly used, we support by fuel, by generators and we are also water trucking with our own trucks, so that is actually how we manage to distribute this large amount. So we work with locals actually and bombing (sic) from protected wells.
[INTERVIEWER] Right. How much cholera do you think is now present in the Swat region or elsewhere in Pakistan?
[DR AMIN] Ok, well, I mean to speak specifically about Swat region as we set up an area treatment centre there, we have 60 cases where we have a high suspicion of cholera.
[INTERVIEWER] 60?
[DR AMIN] 60 with high suspicion of cholera. We sent 5 samples to the National Institute for Health in Islamabad, this is the referent lab in the country and we are waiting for laboratory confirmation so as for yet we do not have a confirmation about these 5 samples, however, we treat the 60 as if they are cholera to contain it because there was high similarity with cholera and to be on the safe side we set up the area treatment centre outside the hospital and we are treating them in a tent set up.
[INTERVIEWER] Now, we have talked about water and getting water in. What about food? People getting hungry?
[DR AMIN] Yeah, actually, food, I think that this is the main challenge for the times ahead of us now because as you say, I mean the people are displaced, so they have left their homes and now there is not enough food for them to get and that will furthermore weaken them and make them more vulnerable to other diseases and actually it is not really a very positive scene ahead of us. What we saw in Baluchistan in our mobile clinics we have done roughly 2000 consultations and around 30% of them were children under 5 and we used this rapid MUAC assessment which is a kind of mid/upper arm circumference to assess the nutritional status in a child and we found 25% of those kids had signs of acute severe malnutrition
[INTERVIEWER] Recent signs, from since the floods started?
[DR AMIN] So, it’s very hard to link it only to the flood but that highlights the fact that that area, it is a problem, malnutrition is an issue already and those people are already at the edge and the flood is going to push them over the edge.
[INTERVIEWER] No reserves at all….