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| Pittston Animal Hospital |
4
O'Connell Street
Pittston PA. 18640
Office hours are
8:00a.m. to 8:00p.m. Mon thru
Fri
Call for appointment (570)
655-2412
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| Wilkes-Barre Animal Hospital |
421
N. Pennsylvania Avenue
Wilkes-Barre, PA 18702
Business Hours are evening only:
8 p.m to 12 a.m. Mon thru
Fri
Please call us at (570) 821-9390
During business hours.
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| Tandojam Charity Animal
Hospital |
Mirpurkhas
Road,
Tandojam City Dist.
Hyderabad, Sindh, Pakistan
Phone 92 221 765442
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| Dr. Inayatullah H. Kathio, D.V.M., of the
Pittston Animal Hospital and Wilkes-Barre Animal Hospital,
Inc. (Pennsylvania, United States), is a Fellow
and Research Officer/Consultant at the Food and Agriculture
Organization of the United Nations. He owns three animal hospitals
in Pakistan, which provide free services. |
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In
Afghanistan, Tackling Leishmaniasis?and
Narcotics |
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| Lesions
of zoonotic cutaneous
leishmaniasis on the ankle
of a two-year-old child
in Pakistan. |
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| The
same child as in photo
1(from the left)
whose household dog was
found positive for cutaneous
leishmaniasis. |
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| A
young boy with a destructive
ulcerative lesion on his
nose. |
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| Disfiguring
mass on the nose arose
from cutaneous leishmaniasis. |
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Decades of civil war in
Afghanistan have destroyed much of its
infrastructure. At the same time, neglected
but treatable diseases have taken hold
throughout this long history of conflict
and defeated the efforts of doctors
and clinics to bring them under control.
One of the most serious examples is
leishmaniasis. Women and children are
particularly affected. The disease is
so widespread in some areas that it
is known as "little sister" as it is
almost a part of the family. However,
in Kabul there is an opportunity to
bring leishmaniasis under control and
end the suffering of some 200,000 people
there who are believed to be infected
with this parasite. Due to their lower
levels of resistance, returning refugees
and other displaced persons are at a
higher risk of infection. International
staff working in Afghanistan also face
a substantially higher risk.
The World Health Organization (WHO),
together with the Government of Afghanistan
and a number of international non-governmental
organizations had launched an urgent
appeal for funds to bring this serious
outbreak under control. This is one
case whereby a remarkably small amount
of money could make an enormous difference.
"A little over $1 million is all
we need to fund a two-year programme
that would have a huge, long-term impact
on this disfiguring disease once and
for all", said Dr. Gro Harlem Brundtland,
WHO Director-General. "But we need to
act now: if this opportunity is missed,
there will be a severe increase in the
number of cases next year."
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The United Nations Office on Drugs
and Crime is helping Afghanistan to
break a decade-long dependence on
opium-poppy cultivation. In close
coordination with the transitional
Government and the overall United
Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan,
the Office has been implementing a
broad range of projects aimed at strengthening
the country's drug control and crime
prevention capacity. A progress report
on ten of the projects was presented
at a July 2002 meeting in Geneva.
"The United Nations and the international
community in general have been very
generous. However, ultimately, Afghan
society needs to build its own institutions
in order to beat the evil of drugs,
crime and terror", the UN Office Executive
Director Antonio Maria Costa said.
In 1999, the country was the source
of 70 per cent of global production
of opiates?equivalent to over 450
tonnes of heroin. The 2002 production
was estimated at 200 to 250 tonnes.
In Afghanistan, the UN Drug Control
Programme is engaged in a wide spectrum
of anti-drug activities, which include
monitoring of illegal crops, with
the UN Office on Drugs and Crime's
Opium Poppy Survey being the world's
most reliable estimate of the extent
of narcotic cultivation in the country.
The report also highlights projects
to help the Government establish a
judicial framework consistent with
international law and to set up effective
drug control and law enforcement agencies.
The growing drug abuse in Afghanistan
is emerging as a new problem and,
for this reason, projects for demand
reduction and narcotics prevention
have been developed.
"Most importantly, farmers need to
be helped to break the dependency
on illegal crops. Therefore, the United
Nations has adopted a long-term approach
aimed at offering Afghan farmers sustainable
agricultural alternatives to drug
cultivation", Mr. Costa said. The
Office also works with other international
partners, assisting them to include
the drug control element in their
reconstruction and development projects.
Similar initiatives have been undertaken
in Iran, Pakistan and Central Asian
countries. "Afghanistan's drug problem
affects the entire region. We are
working with all of Afghanistan's
neighbouring countries to develop
joint measures", Mr. Costa said.
The UN Office reopened in Kabul in
February 2002. Its staff include programme
officers and specialists running a
broad range of projects, and about
100 people engaged in monitoring opium-poppy
cultivation.
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