THE suffering of people from diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases in the flood-hit districts suggests that the government is not prepared to tackle the post-disaster health crisis. As flood water has begun to recede in Noakhali and Feni, two of the worst-affected areas, the district hospitals and other health facilities are struggling to attend diarrhoea patients. In Feni, a total of 122 diarrhoea patients, 90 per cent of them children, were admitted to different upazila hospitals on September 1. In addition to diarrhoea, a high number of snake bite cases are also reported. At the Noakhali General Hospital, 116 diarrhoea patients and 18 patients with snake bites were admitted on August 31. Lack of access to safe water is primarily responsible for the evolving health crisis, as half of the tube wells are damaged due to the flood. The damage to the roads has added to their suffering as nurses and patients struggle to reach health facilities. Elderly people also suffered injuries when trying to reach a shelter during the early days of the flood. In Cumilla Medical College Hospital, at least 11 patients with fractured bones and other injuries were passing days in agony with no about the whereabouts of their relatives. The prevailing health crisis in the flood-hit districts yet again points to flawed disaster response programmes that are exclusively focused on rescue, shelter and food aid.
In a media release on September 1, the disaster management ministry said over 7,05,052 people are still marooned and an additional five million are directly affected by the flood in 11 districts across the country. Flood-affected people stranded in remote localities still desperately wait for relief and medical support amid a situation of complete breakdown of the communications system. The government has been providing flood shelter and relief, but compared with the scale of devastation and magnitude of public suffering, the government relief effort so far is scanty and visibly insignificant. As the government is yet to arrange additional medical staff to attend the overflowing patients with diarrhoea in flood-hit areas, citizens are organising health camps to provide health support to the flood victims, but they are doing so without institutional support. According to the Flood Forecasting and Warning Centre, all rivers of the country were flowing below the danger level, and the flood situation is likely to improve. In what follows, the government needs to attend to socio-economic impacts of flood.
It is high time the government took a comprehensive flood relief programme and addressed the emerging health crisis; if necessary, organised health camps or provided additional medical staff to attend to the flow of patients in the affected areas. In addition to the immediate humanitarian crisis, the government must announce a long-term relief programme with the provision of free seed, fertiliser and food so that people could focus on rebuilding. It should also consider strengthening institutional frameworks to ensure better agency coordination and invest in weather forecast systems, especially for rapid-onset disasters such as flash floods.
