Hanoi Health Department is carrying out urgent measures to prevent the spread of disease in Chuong My District after days of flooding.
As of August 2, many communes in Chuong My District were still under water, meaning sewage water is now contaminating the area – Dtinews reported.
56-year-old Nguyen Thi Duyen had to place a large wood plank at the door to block rubbish from being washed into the house. Duyen said the communal authorities gave them a bottle of medicine for the itching caused by exposure to the contaminated water but it ran out fast and ants swamped her houses, making her unable to sleep.
Nguyen Thi Sau, another local in Nam Hai Village, said, “Our lives have been turned upside down after 10 days of flooding. This year the water has receded so slowly, everyone in my family has athlete’s foot but diarrhoea is the worse. We lack clean water and vegetables.”
The residents of Nam Phuong Tien Commune are also having to live with rubbish. The local authorities have started collections, but have proved unable to completely deal with such a huge amount of rubbish left after days of flooding.
Officials from Hanoi Department of Health visit a family in Chuong My District
Duong Viet Tai, head of Chuong My Medical Centre, said as of July 31, up to 3,627 houses in 11 low-lying communes were completely submerged. Nam Phuong Tien and Tan Tien communes were the hardest hit.
Tai went on to say that they had worked with Chuong My General Hospital and other medical stations to give health checks to 1,544 people. They also set up a disease prevention mobile team and were co-operating with communal authorities to clean up the environment.
Nguyen Khac Hien, director of Hanoi Department of Health, has recently arrived at the scene and asked the authorities to prepare medicines and equipment to prevent outbreaks.