|
Smallpox in NWFP
It has been reported from different parts of the Swabi district that a large number of children have suffered from smallpox, but the authorities concerned have failed to take any action to prevent this disease or immunize the people against it. A health official said that the dilemma of the people was that they were not aware of the danger aspects of this ailment as the children suffering from it have neither been kept in isolation nor properly treated. And this resulted in the spread of the virus. Ummm... Smallpox in its natural state is all but wiped out in the civilized world... The residents of Naro Banda, a rural area in the district, told this correspondent that a majority of the children in the village had suffered from smallpox a few years back. "My two brothers, Shams and Akhtar, have been afflicted by smallpox and I have appealed to the officials concerned, but they did not bother either to visit the area or take steps for controlling it," said Mukhtaj Ahmad of Naro Banda. "A few years back"! The mother of a sick child said she had informed the lady health workers about the spread of the disease four days ago, but no action was taken. It was also noticed that most of the parents of the sick children were uneducated. They had either approached the quack living nearby, or the self-made homeopath doctors to treat the children, but no visible improvement could be seen in the health of the children. If the district health department delayed taking steps for containing the disease, the epidemic may spread to other areas in the vicinity, or the whole of the district, for that matter. The suffering people have appealed to the NWFP governor, district government bosses and health officials to send in special teams to extend necessary health cover to the children. This being Pakistan, where they shoot doctors rather than controlling disease, this could be a natural outbreak of a disease that the civilized world has almost forgotten. F'rinstance, Pak Moms still have to worry about their kids catching polio (Pakistan, India and Afghanistan together account for 70% of the world's polio cases), and if things are going to be unsanitary NWFP's the place for them to be. On the other hand, we can't help but notice that the al-Qaeda and Taliban have pretty much moved to new digs in NWFP. Presumably they've brought their little research projects with them... Followup: Instapundit and MedPundit both saw the story. MedPundit thinks it might be monkeypox or something along those lines. I will retain my suspicions because of the heavy infestation of loons in the general area. Followup to followup: Kat's got it, too, and prob'ly everyone else to follow... Posted by: Fred Pruitt 2002-06-10 |
| http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=5049 |