Hanoi ready to fight diseases in flood-hit areas

Children play along a road filled with rubbish and flood water in Nam Phương Tien commune (Photo: VNA)

Hanoi (VNA) – Residents must work closely with
to prevent and control epidemics in areas where
had been lingering in Hanoi’s Chuong My district for more than 10 days, said Nguyen
Khac Hien, Director of the municipal Department of Health.

Located about 30km from
downtown Hanoi, Chuong My, Quoc Oai and My Duc districts were among the hardest
hit by heavy downpours which began on July 21, and a large part of Chuong My district was left under water.

Water levels in the Bui River
are slowly dropping, but more than 100 households in Nam Phuong Tien and Tan Tien
communes remain flooded, along with  Phu Cat, Liep Tuyet, Phuc Lam, Le
Thanh and Huong Son. The situation has improved in Quoc Oai and My Duc
districts, but trash covers the sodden landscape.

Nguyen Van Manh, Chairman of the Tan Tien Commune
People’s Committee, said that the health sector was working with local
authorities to ensure sanitation and prevent diseases.

However, due to the piles of rubbish, the
committee had been forced to ask for support from Chuong My district.

In Quoc Oai district, Chairman of the Can Huu
Commune People’s Committee Vu Van Loi said that the commune had called on all
forces to clean up the environment.

Local authorities had chemically treated all
households to prevent diseases, and residents had returned to farming, he said.

Hien said that the department had asked the
local health sector to work with the Hanoi Ophthamology Hospital, the Ha Dong
Ophthamology Hospital, the Hanoi Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology and
the Hanoi Preventive Medicine Centre to strengthen health care for residents. Free
health examinations will also be provided.

Hanoi has a variety of medicines on hand to
treat diseases that often occur after floods, especially for eye, skin and
venereal diseases.

Medical stations have assigned workers to be on
duty day and night, while residents have been urged to keep the environment
clean, clear bushes and ensure food hygiene and safety.

Radio stations are also broadcasting guidelines
about drowning prevention, disease prevention and food safety.  

The Hanoi Hospital of Dermatology and Venereology,
the Ha Dong Eye Hospital and the Hospital have prepared
enough medical staff and medicines to give general health checks to 8,500
people in the seven villages most seriously hit by the flooding in Tan Tien,
Nam Phuong Tien and Hoang Van Thu communes from August 6 to 22.

Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of
Health Hoang Duc Hanh said that so far no diseases had been reported in Chuong
My district.-VNA