The United Nations childrenÂ’s agency renewed its appeal for $39 million intending to help the most vulnerable flood victims in Pakistan, which was plagued by water-borne diseases and malnutrition that claimed the lives of 10 more people in Sindh, including four children.
According to Unicef, over 3.4 million children have been uprooted from their homes and the floodwaters had taken the lives of more than 550 children across the country, including 293 in the worst-affected province of Sindh.
Pakistan has been severely lashed by record monsoon rains flooding a third of the country – an area the size of the United Kingdom – and killing nearly 1,600 people.
Further information revealed that more than seven million people have been displaced, and many of them are now living in improvised tents without mosquito protection and without much access to clean drinking water or restrooms.
Meanwhile, United Nations Humanitarian Coordinator Julien Harneis stated Pakistan had been facing a cascading “second disaster” from diseases such as malaria, dengue, cholera, and diarrhea, as well as malnutrition.
“My personal concern is that mortality from the water-borne diseases, from malnutrition, will be higher than what we’ve seen so far,” he said while talking to the media in Islamabad. “That’s a sober but realistic understanding.”
Nearly 33 million people have been influenced by the floods, which have destroyed more than 2 million homes and business premises, swept away 7,000 kilometers of roads, and collapsed 500 bridges.
The United Nations also showed its concern over increasing cases of waterborne diseases. “We are deeply worried about the very real possibility of a wave of death and disease which is already stretching its tentacles. A second disaster is looming in sight,” the UN said in a statement.
Over 134,000 cases of diarrhea and 44,000 cases of malaria were reported in the flood-affected area of Sindh just this past week, the UN said, adding “Millions of children are still grappling to survive, and we fear thousands will not make it.”
“Five hundred children died because of the direct impact of the floods,” lamented Unicef Field Operations Chief Scott Whoolery. “We’re not worried about hundreds. We’re worried about thousands,” he stated. “Many of them we probably will never know, they won’t be counted.”
“The absolute priority is to deal with the health crisis that is striking the flood-affected districts right now,” remarked Harneis.