Emergency response in Pakistan

GDF helps meet urgent drug needs after earthquake

ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN - In response to the earthquake (7.6 magnitude) that struck north-east of Islamabad, Pakistani Kashmir, on 8 October 2005, the GDF has provided an emergency grant of much needed anti-TB drugs to Pakistan. The drugs will help replenish stocks lost and damaged during the earthquake.

The earthquake caused significant damage to buildings in the disaster area, including facilities used to treat TB patients, and resulted in high mortality and casualties. Pakistan has confirmed more than 73 000 deaths as a result of the earthquake, and India says nearly 1400 have died in the section it administers. Up to 3 million people have been left homeless in the earthquake's aftermath. With TB centres and laboratories destroyed, medicines and patient records lost in the rubble, NTPs in the region faced countless challenges while continuing to provide treatment to patients in need, and at the same time coping with shortages of staff, drugs, laboratories and damaged infrastructure.

The GDF responded to the crisis and the ensuing shortage of drugs by working with the Pakistani NTPs to identify their immediate needs for anti-TB drugs and calling for an emergency grant review by the GDF Technical Review Committee. The approved GDF grant for anti-TB drugs, which should be sufficient to treat 5000 TB patients, was completed less than a month after the earthquake struck.

At the time of the earthquake, Pakistan had a buffer stock designed to cover drug shortages in exceptional situations. However, as this would have entailed re-shuffling drug stocks, a costly and logistically difficult effort, the emergency supply of GDF drugs was set in motion.

The emergency grant is in addition to existing GDF grant support for Pakistan, which has delivered approximately 210 000 patient treatments since 2001.