Hanoi ready to fight diseases in flood-hit areas
Residents must work closely with medical workers to prevent and control epidemics in areas where flood waters 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.
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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 Chuong My District 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.
