There is a shortage of clean drinking water in Pakistan’s floodplains. Floodwaters cool in the heat, but parasitic diseases also nest in them.
Pakistan’s floods have passed their peak, but the problems caused by floodwaters continue to grow. Dirty flood waters cause health problems in particular.
Malaria, dengue fever, diarrhea and various skin diseases drive tens of thousands of Pakistanis to treatment every day.
Malnourished children and women in poor rural areas especially suffer from diseases caused by dirty flood water and lack of clean drinking water.
– Stagnant water is a breeding ground for waterborne diseases, Prime Minister of Pakistan Shehbaz Sharif says.
In many places in Pakistan, it is over 40 degrees and people have to swim, bathe and cool themselves in the floodwaters that rush over their shoulders.
– Millions who lost their homes in the floods are now living in the sky, says Shehbaz Sharif.
Because there is a lack of clean drinking water, people also drink the same flood waters to quench their thirst.
Shortage of both medicines and doctors
According to the health authorities, parasite infections in flood waters will continue for months. So far, more than two million people have been treated in tent villages and mobile clinics filled with flood refugees.
Around 600 cases of malaria have been confirmed in Pakistan’s floodplains, but more than 10,000 people are suspected to have contracted the disease. Tens of thousands of people have contracted severe diarrhea and various skin diseases.
The spread of malaria is of particular concern. There is currently a lack of medicines, doctors and other medical staff to fight malaria in flood areas.
Unicef and Pakistani government officials have reported that more than 1,500 people have died in the floods.
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