 |
| Police personnel teach children to wash hands with soap at a camp for the earthquake displaced in Dhading district. |
DHADING, AUG 04 - The children of earthquake displaced from northern settlements of Dhading who were living in camps at the district headquarters are falling sick due to the outbreak of various infectious skin diseases.
Many children have developed skin infections due to exposure to elements as well as change of weather, said Tokman Tamang, chairman of Earthquake Displaced Camp Management Committee at Alchhidanda. Tamang added as most of the children were used to living in cool region, they are having difficulty adapting to warmer weather. There are around 400 displaced children at Alchhidanda and Damgade camps at Neelkhanta Municipality in the district.
“The camp life is very trying, especially for children. On Sunny days it gets severely hot inside the tent. If there is a rainfall it offers no consolation because the ground gets muddy,” Tamang said.
There is no proper outlet to in the camps to divert the rainwaters as they are practically living in the wild. The camp sites were located rather hastily to shelter a large number of families who were displaced in the April 25 earthquake. The camps also lack latrines and water.
Anita Khati of Sahayatri Nepal, an organisation working for the welfare of post-partum women, said the hygiene situation inside the camp is dismal as there water is not easily accessible whenever one needs to clean themselves.
Besides skin diseases, children are also suffering from diarrhoea, fever, cough and headache, said Purnamaya Tamang, an earthquake displaced from Ree VDC.
She said that they cannot afford to take the sick to health facilities.
An official at the District Public Health Office said the office was preparing to set up temporary health centres in camps to look after the sick.
0 Comments: