Medics from UAE head to Pakistan

The UAE Red Crescent is sending medics to flood-ravaged Pakistan and launching a Dh367,295 vaccination programme.

The UAE Red Crescent is sending medics to flood-ravaged Pakistan and launching a US$100,000 (Dh367,295) vaccination programme to protect young women and children from disease. A six-person volunteer medical team will leave the UAE tomorrow to provide aid to refugees in Peshawar, said Mohammed al Qumzi, the chief executive of the Red Crescent Authority (RCA). A total of 23 doctors and nurses volunteering with the RCA will travel to the area in four groups, each staying from seven to 10 days before being replaced.

The RCA is also coordinating with Unicef to provide 625,000 vaccine doses to be sent to Jacobabad in Pakistan, said Larra Hussein, the operational officer for GCC countries at Unicef. Children aged between six months and five years will be given measles vaccine, while young women will receive two doses of tetanus vaccine. According to UN figures, about 3.5 million children are at risk of contracting water-borne diseases as a result of the floods, which left a fifth of Pakistan waterlogged and about 20 million people affected.

Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed, President of the UAE, has ordered the RCA to launch a donations campaign for Pakistan in the UAE, said Mr al Qumzi. [e-mail]