Photo courtesy UNICEF—Sami Malik
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Monday called for swift action to address the plight of children across Pakistan impacted by this year’s floods, stressing rebuilding their lives and future should be a priority.
According to the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), 552 children have died across Pakistan since mid-June due to this year’s rains. Authorities say of the 33 million people impacted by the rains and floods, around 16 million are estimated to be children, leaving them most at risk as the country enters the recovery phase of the devastation wreaked by the deluge. According to UNICEF, 3.4 million children in Pakistan are in need of “immediate, lifesaving” support.
“Global conversation on Pakistan’s flood devastation should focus on the plight of children,” Sharif said in a posting on Twitter. “Disaster has adversely affected millions of children with over 500 dead. Let these children not be an arithmetic but a clarion call for swift action to rebuild their lives and future,” he added.
Earlier, addressing media in London, the prime minister said friendly countries were extending assistance for flood victims through relief goods, adding that the people of Pakistan were also donating for the rehabilitation of the flood-hit people. Emphasizing that the ruling coalition had allocated Rs. 70 billion for the direct benefit of flood affected people, and was providing cash handouts of Rs. 25,000 for each family through the Benazir Income Support Program.
‘Second disaster’
In a statement, World Health Organization Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has warned that the scale of the disaster in Pakistan risks triggering a “second disaster” of disease and deaths that could severely impact vital health systems and leave millions more vulnerable.
Noting that clean water supply remained disrupted in various parts of the country, he said people were being forced to drink unsafe water, leaving them at risk of being infected with cholera and other diarrheal diseases. Similarly, he said, stagnant pools of water left behind by the floods were a breeding ground for mosquitoes, which would lead to malaria and dengue outbreaks. Damage to infrastructure has also left health centers inaccessible, creating further problems for people seeking aid.
“All this means more unsafe births, more untreated diabetes or heart diseases, and more children missing vaccination, to name but a few of the impacts on health,” he warned. “But if we act quickly to protect health and deliver essential health services, we can significantly reduce the impact of this impending crisis. Health workers in Pakistan are stretched to the limit as they do all they can to deliver critical services amid the destruction. Nearly 2,000 health facilities have been fully or partially damaged,” he added.
Over 1,500 dead
According to the NDMA, 1,545 people have died across Pakistan due to this year’s rains, including 678 men, 315 women, and 552 children. It said total injuries had soared to 12,860, including 5,393 men, 3,452 women, and 4,005 children.
The worst-hit province is Sindh, with 678 deaths and 8,422 injuries. According to the provincial health ministry, it detected 12,000 cases of asthma, respiratory and chest-related infections among flood victims in the previous 24 hours. It said around 20,000 people were infected with various skin ailments, while almost 18,000 cases of diarrhea had been reported. Similarly, it said, over 2,500 people had been diagnosed with malaria and 64 with dengue.
The NDMA also updated the total losses to infrastructure, reporting that nearly 2 million homes had been partially or fully destroyed by this year’s floods. It said 1.15 million homes were partially damaged—over 1 million in Sindh alone—while 782,274 homes were fully destroyed—nearly 700,000 in just Sindh.
Meanwhile, total livestock losses have climbed to 959,819, while 374 bridges have been damaged or washed away, and 12,716km of roads have been damaged, endangering connectivity between provinces, especially for far-flung areas.