Hundreds of Pakistani flood victims have been treated at an Australian health centre set up in the country last week. This center at the Punjab city of Kot Addu is manned by a team of doctors, nurses and paramedics from the Northern Territory, Western Australia, Victoria and Queensland.
The centre is part of the federal government's $35 million aid package to Pakistan, to provide relief for floods that have affected about 20 million people. In Kot Addu alone, tens of thousands are believed to have been left homeless, while up to 250,000 people still rely on food assistance.
The team leader Dr Ian Norton revealed that there have been over 200 cases of diarrhea, malaria and skin problems per day at the center. “I believe we will make a difference here. Certainly just today we've seen 50 or 60 people in the first few hours…A lot of them have been discharged from the local hospital because they're feeling overwhelmed there…Particularly young kids,” he said.
The center is still treating over 100 patients per day.