Diseases pose new risks in flood crisis
Source: Agencies |
August 14, 2010, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
DISEASE outbreaks pose grave new risks to victims of Pakistan's worst floods in decades, aid agencies said yesterday, potentially hindering already complicated relief efforts as desperation grows.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours, have engulfed Pakistan's Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing 2 million from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 14 million people, or 8 percent of the population.
A health crisis would tax aid agencies already facing huge logistical challenges.
The United Nations is increasingly worried about water-borne diseases. There have been 36,000 suspected cases of potentially fatal acute watery diarrhoea reported so far.
"This is a growing concern. Therefore we are responding with all kinds of preventative as well as curative medication for outbreaks," said Maurizio Giuliano, the UN humanitarian operation spokesman.
Floods have roared down from the northwest to Punjab province to southern Sindh. The UN appealed for US$459 million in emergency aid and warned of a new wave of deaths if help didn't arrive soon.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Pakistan over the weekend to discuss the crisis with Pakistani leaders.
"Children are dying now as we speak because of lack of access to clean drinking water," said Pascal Cuttat, International Committee of the Red Cross Head of Delegation in Islamabad.
In Punjab, Pakistan's bread basket, crowds of people pushed and scratched each other competing for relief supplies. The elderly took food from children. A man grabbed sugar from a burst bag that had fallen on the ground and poured into his mouth.
Villages have been swallowed up. Bridges have collapsed. Some people only have a patch of land to stand on. All they see is water.
Pakistanis are at the mercy of the elements. Fresh downpours could bring more destruction and the economic fallout could last years.
The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said the country would miss this year's 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target though it was not clear by how much.
Cholera would create another major crisis. Some officials say there are indications that it may have already broken out.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours, have engulfed Pakistan's Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing 2 million from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 14 million people, or 8 percent of the population.
A health crisis would tax aid agencies already facing huge logistical challenges.
The United Nations is increasingly worried about water-borne diseases. There have been 36,000 suspected cases of potentially fatal acute watery diarrhoea reported so far.
"This is a growing concern. Therefore we are responding with all kinds of preventative as well as curative medication for outbreaks," said Maurizio Giuliano, the UN humanitarian operation spokesman.
Floods have roared down from the northwest to Punjab province to southern Sindh. The UN appealed for US$459 million in emergency aid and warned of a new wave of deaths if help didn't arrive soon.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is expected to visit Pakistan over the weekend to discuss the crisis with Pakistani leaders.
"Children are dying now as we speak because of lack of access to clean drinking water," said Pascal Cuttat, International Committee of the Red Cross Head of Delegation in Islamabad.
In Punjab, Pakistan's bread basket, crowds of people pushed and scratched each other competing for relief supplies. The elderly took food from children. A man grabbed sugar from a burst bag that had fallen on the ground and poured into his mouth.
Villages have been swallowed up. Bridges have collapsed. Some people only have a patch of land to stand on. All they see is water.
Pakistanis are at the mercy of the elements. Fresh downpours could bring more destruction and the economic fallout could last years.
The International Monetary Fund has warned of major economic harm and the Finance Ministry said the country would miss this year's 4.5 percent gross domestic product growth target though it was not clear by how much.
Cholera would create another major crisis. Some officials say there are indications that it may have already broken out.
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