SIMIKOT, Dec 28: All health facilities in seven rural municipalities in Humla are dealing with an increased number of people with complains of winter-related health issues as the winter season is about hit its peak.
The district was struck by heavy snowfall in the second week of December, triggering temperature dip. Since then, the number of ill people has sharply gone up. The Simkot rural municipality-2 (Thehe) is struggling to cope with the common cold issue.
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The entire village, home to around 500 households, is gripped by common cold. Every house has two or more patients.
According to Nara Bhandari, health assistant worker at the local Thehe health post, some 45-50 people visit the post each day with numerous complains such as fever, headache, throat pain and so on.
Thehe is the largest human settlement in the district with the highest number of population. Bhadari said, "Thehe is a compact settlement. Houses are joined with each other and diseases spread fast." He said medicine brought from the district headquarters, Simkot, has been distributed to meet the increasing demand for medicine owing to the growing number of patients coming to the health post.
"The health post has run out of stock of medicines at present and the number of patients is on the rise," he said. Thehe health post is currently manned by one Assistant Health Worker and a office helper. Bhandari said he has to examine 45 to 50 patients a day.
Similarly, the number of patients is also increasing in the District Hospital, Humla. The hospital is full of cough and cold patients, said Tashi Lama, a doctor at the hospital. According to him, the number of patients suffering from seasonal cough and cold has been growing. The number of patients has also been increasing in health posts in areas in the lower belt of the district.
