KARACHI:Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) Saturday urged public to save themselves during this monsoon season from the diseases that spreads due to contaminated water. People should use boiled or mineral water to avoid water born diseases.
Secretary General, Pakistan Medical Association (Centre), Dr S M Qaisar Sajjad, in his statement, said waterborne diseases spread by drinking contaminated water. About three million people of Pakistan suffer from waterborne disease like typhoid, hepatitis A and E and cholera. Approximately, 250,000 children below 5 year die every year owing to waterborne diseases.
He said US Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a health warning for Pakistan, alerting people against an ongoing outbreak of “extensively drug-resistant” typhoid fever that does not respond to most antibiotics. The Centre has urged people to take extra care with food and water and get a typhoid vaccination.
He advised citizens for proper hand-washing and safe food and water practices. People should avoid eating from bazaar, while drinking water and beverages with ice of unknown purity should also be avoided.
He stressed the need for inclusion of typhoid vaccination in national immunization program to protect people from disease.