Medical workers in east China's Anhui Province are going all out to
offer free medical care for people suffering from this summer's
heavy floods in the Huaihe River valley.
The waters of the Huaihe River, which mostly flows through east
China, subsided below the danger level one week ago, but the flood
has left many of the 165 million people living in the river's vast
valley with various kinds of diseases.
Anhui has, so far, sent more than 3,600 medical teams consisting of
6,685 people to the flooded areas to provide free treatment for
768,000 people.
"The epidemic situation is now basically stable," said Gao Kaiyan,
director of the provincial health department, pointing to the fact
that only some common diseases occurred, such as diarrhea and skin
diseases.
A
supervisory system has been set up to follow the situation in the
river valley and some people have been specially designated to
collect and analyze information about the diseases, he said.
Local health stations have been providing guidance on the safety of
drinking water and food for people in the flooded villages and
helping them disinfect their houses or tents with bleach and
medicine.
As
floods commonly cause many diseases, medicines are still in need in
the Huaihe River valley, sources said.
(Xinhua News Agency July 26, 2003)
