Kainat Ali
A large number of pregnant women in the flood affected areas are finding it difficult to access healthcare facilities and medicines.
Laila, a resident of Charsadda told TNN that she was fourth month pregnant when the floods struck. She said that after the floods, they have to work day and night to restore it to previous shape, which negatively impacted her health.
“I had to carry heavy loads which are now resulting into back-ache,” she said. Besides, she said that they were also facing problems with food and medicines due to the poverty.
Laila said that cattle owned by the household were also weakened due to lack of care and fodder. “We were dependent on milk for income and other needs on these cattle,” she said. She said that doctors prescribe medicines worth thousands of rupees, when they fell ill. “We could not pay such heavy amounts for treatment,” she said.
Estimates show that there were more than 650,000 women requiring medical aid in the flood affected areas.
Seema, another resident of Charsadda who is about to give birth to her child, told TNN that she was feeling very weak. “Due to floods, I was unable to pay attention to my health and only twice received a checkup,” she said.
Besides, she said that they had no money and they were fretting about arranging money for the childbirth.
Additional Medical Superintendent Shabqadar hospital Dr Mahmood Jan told TNN that they had setup 15 medical camps in the flood affected areas. He said that at these camps, they paid special attention to the care of pregnant women.
“We also counseled the pregnant women in these medical camps and also provided them with medicines,” he said. Besides, he said that in case of childbirth, they also used to call the mother to hospital for delivery.
On the other pregnant women in the flood affected areas have demanded authorities to pay attention to their health. They said that they were unable to get regular checkups and afford medicines due to the losses incurred in floods.
