Floods: WHO issues health emergency alert for Pakistan
The UN health agency warned that Pakistan is on the verge of a public health calamity as a result of unprecedented flooding, as millions of people become ill owing to the spread of waterborne infections.
During the Tuesday flash appeal launch in Geneva, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) made a statement: “The water has stopped rising, but the danger has not. We are on the verge of a public health disaster,”
In Pakistan, where the greatest floods and accompanying diseases have killed more than 2,000 people since mid-June, the UN estimated that $816 million is required for rescue and relief efforts.
The $160 million that the UN requested in August is much less than the amount of the new petition.
Fears of a second calamity have been raised by the development of diseases like cholera, malaria, and dengue fever in Sindh’s most severely affected area.
Over 350 people have already passed away from infections.
The majority of the 33 million impacted individuals still reside in improvised housing with limited or no access to bathrooms and clean drinking water.
Tedros Ghebreyesus WHO Director warn “If we don’t mobilize additional resources for Pakistan, many more lives could be lost in the floods in the coming weeks”
