Waterborne diseases may kill more people than floods in Pakistan

KHAIRPUR, Pakistan (AA) – Thousands of Pakistanis displaced by unprecedented floods are now facing an even worse ordeal: the outbreak of waterborne and other diseases.

The Sindh Health Department confirmed in a statement that over 170,000 people, including 52,000 suffering from diarrhea, have been recorded from flood-affected areas of the province. It added that 72 snake-bite cases have also been reported.

Health experts have made a passionate appeal to the government and NGOs to send medical equipment and medicines to flood-stricken areas “immediately,” warning that the diseases may kill more people than done by rains and floods.

The expected outbreak has prompted the government health authorities and non-governmental relief organizations to set up makeshift clinics and medical camps, mainly in rural areas, to cope with the massive outbreaks of several waterborne and skin diseases.

They have also launched fumigation campaigns in dozens of flood-affected districts, citing an increase in the number of malaria and dengue patients.

Record-breaking rains have inundated half of the country and killed over 1,000 people since mid-June.

Constant rains and raging floods have also destroyed a large chunk of infrastructure and agricultural lands across the country, including tens of thousands of houses, roads, and bridges, and washed away nearly a million animals.