Swat, 31/08/2010
Malteser International, the Order of Malta’s International Relief Service, is continuing its assistance to Pakistan’s flood victims. The mountain districts of Swat and Kohistan are often difficult to reach as roads and bridges have been destroyed and relief teams are forced to abandon their vehicles and proceed on foot. The Order of Malta’s medical teams are working with five Pakistani health units. Moreover, two mobile clinics offer daily services to the inhabitants of villages and towns where access to health facilities cannot be assured. Skin diseases, diarrhoea, pneumonia, dehydration and anaemia continue to be widespread. Medical treatment is accompanied by hygiene awareness sessions and the distribution of water purification tablets.
Swat / Cologne, 01/08/2010
Malteser International provides emergency medical aid in Swat District
“There is a real danger of diseases being spread and – in the worst case – even a cholera epidemic,” warns Nicolas de Cock de Rameyen, president of Malteser International. It’s monsoon season in Asia – but this year the rain in Pakistan has been much heavier than usual. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa – the north-west province with the capital Peshawar – at least 400,000 people were affected by the most severe floods since 1929. The torrential rain has damaged houses, roads and bridges, claiming the lives of over 1000 people.
Sange, South Kivu, 28/07/2010
Traumatised victims aided by Malteser International after catastrophe at Sange
On 2 July a fuel tanker overturned and exploded in Sange, eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, sending a fireball tearing through homes and cinemas packed with people watching the World Cup. Helicopters and ambulances rushed to the scene, where over 230 were killed, another 200 seriously burned.
As the next stage in aid, Malteser International – the Order of Malta’s International Relief Corps – is working with survivors fighting trauma from injuries or loss of family and friends by integrating them into a programme for psycho-social care.
