The rain has subsided, but the sanitation environment is poor… Flood Pollution Water Drinking
Expert: 5 million people might be infected… The situation of 650,000 pregnant women is dire.
In Pakistan, where the worst monsoon monsoon floods hit, there are concerns regarding the outbreak of waterborne infectious diseases such as cholera.
The heavy rain that has been going on since mid-June has recently subsided, but the sanitation environment has become extremely poor, with water being polluted by flooding.
“At first we were wounded, but now diarrhea is common,” said Farhad Khan, a doctor who works as a medical aid in the northwestern Pakistani city of Tsarsada, the Associated Press reported on March 31.
Kyber and Paktunkwaju, where Tsardasa belongs, are one of the places that have been hit directly by the flood.
The problem is that not only Kyber and Paktunkwa provinces but also the southwestern Baluchistan and southern Sindh provinces are affected.
The Pakistani government said that the damage was so great that a third of the country was submerged in water, and that 33 million people were affected by the floods.
About 500,000 people were detained in the relief camp, but most of the victims are living in sloppy, simple residential facilities in the open air, such as roads and highlands.
Because there are no toilets and no adequate supply of drinking water, the victims are exposed to all kinds of infectious diseases such as severe diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid, and skin diseases.
“People are drinking from the flood waters because they have no other option,” said Arif Jabar Khan, Pakistan bureau chief for WaterAid, an international aid organization for water quality improvement, who looked at the site of the recent floods in Sindh.
Experts predicted that if this situation continues, regarding 5 million people will become ill in the next 4 to 12 weeks, local media reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has classified Pakistan’s flooding situation as a high-level emergency.
Kyber-Paktunkwa state spokeswoman Kamran Bangashi said the focus is on food and water supplies as the evacuation is complete, but there are concerns regarding an outbreak of waterborne diseases.
Hundreds of people have already contracted the disease in many parts of the state, said Bangashi, adding that “we don’t want those affected by the flood to suffer once more.”
In the meantime, the flooding damaged regarding 880 medical facilities, making it more difficult to treat diseases.
As the medical infrastructure, which was still poor, deteriorated further, the situation of pregnant women became more urgent.
According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), there are regarding 650,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas.
UNFPA said: “There are 73,000 children who will give birth next month, who need help from skilled midwives and infant nurses.”
Every year in South Asia, the seasonal monsoon rains from June to September cause great damage. This year, Pakistan’s situation has reached a national catastrophe.
Over the past three months, the cumulative death toll has reached 1,200.
Across the country, more than 1 million houses were destroyed, and numerous roads and bridges were cut off.
Pakistan, which has met with the worst floods amid severe economic hardship, has appealed to the international community for support, saying that it cannot afford this disaster.
Prime Minister Shebaz Sharif said the flood was the worst in Pakistan’s history and that it would cost more than $10 billion to restore damaged infrastructure nationwide.
In response, international organizations such as the United Nations (UN) and countries such as the United States, China, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), and South Korea have also started to provide support, such as sending emergency funds and relief goods.
/yunhap news
