UPPER DIR: Cases of gastroenteritis and other waterborne diseases are increasing across several areas of Upper Dir district in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, with hundreds of people seeking medical treatment in recent days.
Hospitals in Dir, Wari, Sheringal and Ashirei Dara have reported a growing number of patients suffering from abdominal pain, diarrhoea, vomiting and other gastrointestinal symptoms. Children, women and elderly people are among those receiving treatment.
District Health Officer Dr Khalid Khan said health authorities collected water samples from 40 locations across Upper Dir and sent them to Khyber Medical University in Peshawar for laboratory testing. The results showed that 29 samples were unfit for human consumption, raising serious concerns about drinking water quality in the affected areas.
Doctors have confirmed cholera in three patients, while health officials suspect contaminated water is responsible for many of the other illnesses. According to the DHO, more than 2,000 people have received treatment for gastroenteritis and related diseases over the past one and a half months.
Health authorities have carried out chlorination at affected water sources and are monitoring the situation. However, officials have warned that chlorination alone is not a long-term solution and stressed the need to address underlying water and sanitation problems.
Residents have been advised to use clean drinking water, maintain proper hand hygiene, safely prepare and store food and seek medical attention if they develop persistent diarrhoea, vomiting or severe abdominal pain.
