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Date: 31st October 2005
Quake-hit people must be attended with psychological treatment
Islamabad: A high delegation consisting of member from Parliamentarians Commission for Human Rights has visited quake-hit area of AJK on 30th October 2005 (Sunday). The delegation was headed by Chairman PCHR Mr. Riaz Fatyana MNA and accompanied by team of professional psychologists from Pakistan Psychological Association (PPA). The objective of the delegation is to assess the psychological imprints upon the quake-hit people and to suggest measures and strategy for dealing with these traumatic problems. Mr. Chairman said that the tragedy has multifarious affects upon the lives of the people and it is unfortunate to say that the area of psychological rehabilitation demanding urgent attention has been totally ignored. He said that without proper psychological counseling and guidance, it will be entirely impossible to transform the lives of affectee into a normal one.
Talking to the media men, Dr. Shahid Sheikh, Professor of Psychology and consultant psychiatrist as well maintained that when disaster strikes, emergency service workers rush to the affected region to provide rescue, recovery, and basic needs. Governments and non-governmental organizations try to provide for the health and safety of the people involved. But there is another side to coping with a tragedy. People react in different ways, and sometimes the effects of a crisis on mental health take some time to become apparent.
The delegation visited the relief camps and interviewed the patients under treatment. It observed that people particularly women and children are afraid, psychologically nightmare and can not sleep due to aftershocks. The children hesitate to go to schools due to excessive state of fear. In order to enable the affected people to resume their lives to as before the disaster, PCHR and PPA has designed Camp Program to provide counseling to the people comprising of different stages and steps. This program will be carried out keeping in view the need assessment, provision of necessary training enabling the affectee to wriggle out of psychological trauma and identification of different individual groups and providing counseling services.
The delegation has also held meeting with the Prime Minister AJK Sardar Skindar Hyat Khan and briefed him of Psychological Rehabilitation Program of PCHR and PPA. Prime Minister AJK appreciated the efforts the PCHR and PPA for taking this initiative and assured for complete cooperation and technical help on the part of Government of AJK.
Chief Coordinator PCHR Mr. Shafique Chaudhry said that after Eid-ul-Fitre, PCHR will organize a seminar on the same topic and the ambit of this psychological campaign will also be extended to other quake-hit areas of the country.
Following numbers will be reachable round the clock for any information or help: Media Cell PCHR |
