Geneva: The United Nations warned on Tuesday the humanitarian situation in flood-ravaged Pakistan was expected to get worse, a day after establishing an air bridge to deliver aid to victims.
More than 33 million people in Pakistan have been affected by the flooding, brought on by record monsoon rains amplified by climate change. The floods have caused at least 1,300 deaths and washed away homes, businesses, roads and bridges.
The UN’s World Health Organization said more than 1,460 health centers had been damaged, of which 432 were fully wrecked, the majority of them in the southeastern province of Sindh.
More than 4,500 medical camps have been set up by the WHO and its partners, while more than 230,000 rapid tests for acute watery diarrhea, malaria, dengue, hepatitis and chikungunya have been distributed.
Such diseases are already circulating in Pakistan, alongside Covid-19, HIV and polio, and “now all these are at risk of getting worse,” WHO spokesman Tarik Jasarevic told reporters in Geneva.
“We have already received reports of increased number of cases of acute watery diarrhea, typhoid, measles and malaria, especially in the worst-affected areas.”
Jasarevic said it was still difficulty to get to areas hit hard by the floods, which have submerged a third of the country — an area the size of the United Kingdom
Mortality among newborn babies and severe acute malnutrition are at risk of increasing due to disruption of services.
“The situation is expected to worsen,” Jasarevic warned.
The WHO has delivered $1.5 million in medicines and emergency stockpiles, including tents, water purification kits and oral rehydration sachets.
It is appealing for $19 million from donors.
UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has launched an air bridge to deliver aid from Dubai.
The first four flights took off on Monday, said Indrika Ratwatte, UNHCR’s regional director for Asia and the Pacific.
Six other flights are planned, with mattresses, tarpaulins and cooking utensils on board.
“The food insecurity is going to be huge because the crops are devastated, obviously, and the little they had in terms of livestock is also destroyed,” he said.
UN preparing for worse to come in Pakistan floods
https://arab.news/nnfha
UN preparing for worse to come in Pakistan floods
- UN’s World Health Organization said more than 1,460 health centers had been damaged
- UNHCR, the UN refugee agency, has launched an air bridge to deliver aid from Dubai
Pakistan to launch last 2025 anti-polio nationwide drive targeting 45 million children next week
- Over 400,000 frontline health workers will participate in Dec. 15-21 nationwide polio vaccination campaign, say authorities
- Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world, the other being Afghanistan, where wild poliovirus remains endemic
KARACHI: Pakistan will kick off the last nationwide anti-polio vaccination campaign of 2025 targeting 45 million children next week, the National Emergencies Operation Center (NEOC) said on Monday, urging parents to coordinate with health workers during the drive.
The campaign takes place days after Pakistan launched a nationwide vaccination drive from Nov. 17-29 against measles, rubella and polio. Pakistan said it had targeted 22.9 million children across 89 high-risk districts in the country with oral polio vaccination drops during the drive.
Over 400,000 health workers will perform their duties during the upcoming Dec. 15-21 nationwide polio vaccination campaign, the NEOC said in a statement.
“Parents are urged to cooperate with polio workers and ensure their children are vaccinated,” the NEOC said. “Complete the routine immunization schedule for all children up to 15 months of age on time.”
Health authorities aim to vaccinate 23 million children in Punjab, 10.6 million in Sindh, over 7.2 million in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, over 2.6 million in Balochistan, more than 460,000 in Islamabad, over 228,000 in Gilgit-Baltistan and more than 760,000 children in Pakistan-administered Kashmir during the seven-day campaign, it added.
Pakistan is one of only two countries in the world where wild poliovirus remains endemic.
Polio is a highly infectious and incurable disease that can cause lifelong paralysis. The only effective protection is through repeated doses of the Oral Polio Vaccine for every child under five during each campaign, alongside timely completion of all routine immunizations.
Islamabad’s efforts to eliminate poliovirus have been hampered by parental refusals, widespread misinformation and repeated attacks on anti-polio workers by militant groups. In remote and volatile areas, vaccination teams often operate under police protection, though security personnel themselves have also been targeted and killed in attacks.
