ISLAMABAD, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Immediate financial assistance is required to keep a key paediatric unit running at the main hospital in Pakistan's quake-hit zone, Pakistan Paediatric Association (PPA) officials said Tuesday.

    The unit, located at Battagram district, North West Frontier Province, is in the front-line of child medical care in the region and has treated more than 10,000 children since last October's earthquake, the state-run APP news agency quoting PPA officials reported.

    This unit needs to be run at least for another three months until a foreign-funded transitional hospital is completed, said Dr Shabbir Ahmed, head of child health in Battagram, quoted by APP.

    The existing agreement with the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) expires in two days and if the unit has to be closed, the children of the whole region will be affected, Shabbir Ahmed said.

    Following an announcement by government that relief operations in the quake-hit zone would cease by 31 March, local and international medical missions have been pulling out of the quake-hit region, leaving a huge gap in health facilities, the APP report said.

    The unit treats those injured in the earthquake and those suffering from medical conditions related to living in inadequate relief camps such as scabies and gastroenteritis, it said. Enditem