Massive Outbreak of Diarrhea and Malaria Affect Flood Victims
by Saeed Iqbal
SHARES
Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, Health Minister of Sindh, on Sunday in her statement said that the outbreak of waterborne diseases has affected flood victims throughout the country but the majority of cases have been reported in Sindh.
In her statement, she further said that more than 134,000 cases of diarrhea have been reported so far in different flood areas of Sindh. Additionally, almost more than 40,000 cases of malaria have also been reported. Dr. Azra also said that one lakh people from flood areas are also experiencing different skin problems.
There are more than one hundred cases of snake-biting and five hundred cases of dog-biting have also been reported. She said that these are the reported cases, unreported cases are unknown and no one knows how high the toll of those cases is.
The number of pregnant women and other girls who are expected to give birth in the next month is also high. The United Nation Population Fund says that six lakh women can give birth during times of flood, and even some women gave birth in flood. Additionally, 73,000 who are flood victims will give birth outside of their homes.
All these patients and pregnant women who are going to give birth do not have access to basic healthcare facilities, they also don’t have access to safe places where they can give birth. 47,000 pregnant women are also getting shelter in different camps.
The National Disaster Management Authority in the latest report said that flooding and swollen rivers have caused damage to the basic infrastructure in all provinces, KPK, Sindh, Punjab, and Baluchistan. More than 1.5 million houses are demolished from the earth and 243 bridges are broken down.
Additionally, 5,500 kilometers of roads have also been damaged completely. Meanwhile, officials say that operations are ongoing to facilitate flood victims.
