WUNRN
Pakistan
|
|
|
Many
women IDPs are suffering as a result of female health worker shortage |
PESHAWAR,
2 December 2009 (IRIN) - Insecurity in many parts of northwestern Pakistan,
where the military have been fighting militants for several months, is making
women health workers think twice about trying to access internally displaced
persons (IDPs).
“I
travelled with colleagues to areas in NWFP [North West Frontier Province]
affected by the 2005 earthquake when I was just a medical student, but now my
parents say it is too dangerous to try and work among the IDPs,” said Rafeeya
Jabeen, 24, a Peshawar-based aid worker.
She
said even though some NGOs had approached her and other women doctors, security
concerns “mean our families are simply not willing to let us go”.
Many
women IDPs are suffering as a result.
“My
wife has had a stomach pain for days, and my 16-year-old daughter has breathing
problems with a bad cough, but there is no female doctor here who they can
see,” said Aftab Jahanzeb, 50, in the town of Hangu, North West Frontier
Province (NWFP).
Jahanzeb
and his family are among some 500 families, about 5,000 individuals, who have
fled Orakzai Agency in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) adjacent
to the Afghan border for Hangu District.
Male
doctors working with NGOs and also the Pakistan military are available, but
female IDPs say they cannot use them.
Maryum
Bibi, aged 40, in a village near Dera Ismail Khan (NWFP) where she is staying
with her uncle, said: “We have seen these teams, but my husband would never
allow me or any of our daughters to be treated by a man… I would prefer to die
than to approach a male who is not a family member to help me.”
Continuing displacement
People
from the Bajaur and Khyber agencies in FATA have been moving into camps in
Nowshera or the Lower Dir districts of NWFP. While the rate of displacement
from South Waziristan has slowed over the past week, according to the UN
Refugee Agency (UNHCR), 428,000 IDPs have been registered in Dera Ismail Khan and
Tank districts of NWFP which border on South Waziristan.
Maryum
Bibi said: “It is hard for women to get help… My husband is not here, my
daughter has been suffering prolonged menstrual bleeding that has continued for
nearly two weeks - and it is hard for me to even talk about such a private
issue with others.”
Like
many other men, Maryum Bibi’s husband has returned to their village in South
Waziristan to protect their home and cattle.
Meanwhile,
aid agency officials acknowledge the access problems.
“We know
there are health needs and we want to help but we are not able to reach these
people,” Ronnie Palomar, deputy head of mission for the Paris-based Médecins
Sans Frontières, told IRIN.
================================================================
To contact the list administrator, or to leave the list, send an email to: wunrn_listserve-request@lists.wunrn.com.
Thank you.