Emergency quake funds collected for Pakistan
A total of 5.8 billion dollars have been donated to Pakistan after the second warning from the United Nations. Caritas doctors in Kashmir say: "There are no incurable illnesses here, but without proper equipment, we cannot save people."
Islamabad (AsiaNews) Pakistan has reached and even surpassed the quota of aid requested from international donors in the wake of the 8 October quake. President Musharraf had asked for 5.2 billion US dollars in emergency aid and on Saturday 19 November, thanks to efforts made by the entire international community, 5.8 billion were allocated.
However, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had to spur the 50 delegates from donor countries once again, reminding them of the tragedy. In a meeting in Islamabad, Annan stressed that a "second calamity" may well hit Kashmir if donors did not offer more money to help survivors.
"The pitiless Himalayan winter is almost upon us and growing more and more severe every week," he said. "We must sustain our efforts to keep people as healthy and as strong as possible until we can rebuild."
"They say a full generation has been lost," Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf told delegates, referring to the estimate that the quake had killed 35,000 children.
It is the survival of children which "is the main objective of Caritas Pakistana. Future generations of Pakistan must be protected; 35,000 children have been lost already." Dr Ajmal is from Lahore, where he works for Caritas, and he is in Mansehra to dispense children's vaccinations. He said: "At the outset of the emergency, the Caritas team was assigned to the villages around Balakot, where we vaccinated an average of 5,000 children. Now we are based in a village called Oghi, a mountainous village where we vaccinate approximately 1,000 children each day.
"The change is important because it means that the local population has understood: now mothers, even fathers, bring their children to us to be vaccinated." So far, Caritas has vaccinated 15,000 children in Pakistani Kashmir.
Ruud Eijk, a Dutch surgeon from Cordaid, an organization that is close to Caritas, adds: "Here there are no incurable illnesses, the problem is that simple solutions with which we would save many human lives are out of our reach because of a lack of means and infrastructure. Local doctors are good and skilled but we cannot save people with theory alone.
"The people are strong and healthy. They live in the mountains, they have a heart and lungs used to deprivation and no serious cardiovascular problems. If we lose people, it's because we have no equipment."
.png)
09/11/2005
