The floods that have affected Pakistan this summer, already responsible for some 1,200 deaths throughout the country, have also led to a worsening of the health situation, to the point that the World Health Organization (WHO) has given the voice of alarm about the possible appearance of disease outbreaks.
The WHO foresees a worsening of the outbreaks that Pakistan already has active, including acute watery diarrhea, dengue, malaria, polio and COVID-19. The water that continues to flood many areas can become a key factor in transmission if no action is taken.
Not surprisingly, the storm that has hit Pakistan since mid-July has affected some 33 million people, with 66 districts especially affected. According to the WHO, almost 890 medical centers have suffered some type of damage and, of these, 180 are totally unusable.
Pakistan’s disaster agency estimates that at least 1,191 people have died in the floods, according to a report published on Wednesday, which places Sindh, with 422 deaths, as the most affected region. In addition, at least 3,641 people have been injured.
The storm has also caused more than 1.1 million homes to have suffered some type of damage, including more than 370,000 that have been completely destroyed. In addition, more than 730,000 head of cattle have been lost.
The WHO director for the region, Ahmed Al Mandhari, has confirmed the mobilization of the agency to facilitate medical care for the affected population and prevent the spread of infectious diseases.
“The current level of devastation is much more serious than that caused by the floods of recent years, including those that devastated the country in 2010,” he said. The Government of Pakistan has also stated that there is no recent precedent for a disaster of this magnitude.
Source: Europa Press
