BALAKOT (Pakistan), Nov. 9 (Xinhuanet)-- Pakistan is to draw a medium term development plan for the earthquake-hit areas, following the first stage of emergency rescue work with the help of international community.

    Naseem Khan, Pakistani Minister of Health, made the remarks at the Medium Term Plan Development Workshop for Earthquake-affected Districts of Northwest Frontier Provinces (NWFP), in Abbottabad here Wednesday.

    The workshop, jointly sponsored by the Pakistani Ministry of Health and the World Health Organization (WHO), invited local officials, representatives of local medical institutes and international rescue organizations.

    Khan said problems left by the earthquake is far more than expected, such as the lack of management and coordination in rescue work.

    WHO representative said the earthquake brought serious psychological problems to more than 100,000 Pakistani people, yet there was only 61 psychologists in the quake-hit areas, which is far short of demand.

    The WHO representative also pointed out that the Pakistani government should strengthen its control over epidemic diseases, which is likely to cause another flood tide of death.

    Inayalullah Khan, a provincial-level official under the Pakistani Ministry of Health in NWFP, said the NWFP would make research on the medium and long-term plan for reconstruction of the local medical facilities. He also expressed his heart-felt gratitude towards a dozen countries including China, which set up mobile hospitals in the quake-hit areas.

    Representatives from United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) said it is easy to reconstruct medical facilities, but hard to cultivate human resource, especially woman medical staff.

    Zhao Heping, director of the team of China International Searchand Rescue (CISAR), stressed the recovery of local medical mechanism and service capacity is of strategic importance to the medium term development in disaster-hit areas.

    Delegates from other international rescue organizations also gave constructive advice, such as to facilitate the reconstruction of houses for disaster-hit victims before winter comes. Enditem