On Monday, the United Nations launched an air bridge to bring relief to flood-ravaged Pakistan.
On Tuesday, the UN issued a warning that the humanitarian situation was expected to get more dire in the coming days.
Over 33 million people in Pakistan have been impacted by flooding due to heavy monsoon rains exacerbated by climate change.
Floodwaters have devastated many buildings, including homes, businesses, roads, and bridges, killing at least 1,300 people.
In Sindh, the majority of the 1,460 health centers were either damaged or destroyed, as reported by the World Health Organization.
Over 230,000 rapid diagnostic kits were distributed to check for acute watery diarrhea, malaria, dengue, hepatitis, and chikungunya.
The WHO and its partners set up more than 4,500 medical camps.
A WHO official warned reporters in Geneva that “today all these are at risk of getting worse” in Pakistan, a country where diseases like Covid-19, HIV/AIDS, and polio are already endemic.
A third of the country has been flooded, an area the size of the United Kingdom.
“We have already received reports of an increasing number of cases of acute watery diarrhea, typhoid, measles, and malaria,” Jasarevic said, adding that it was still difficult to access the areas impacted hard by the floods.
A third of the country is now underwater because of the rains. Compare the size of the United Kingdom to this area.
Concerns have been raised that infant mortality rates and cases of acute malnutrition will rise as a result of service disruptions.
‘It is expected that the situation will get even more bad,’ Jasarevic said.
The WHO has shipped $1.5 million worth of emergency supplies and medicines.
Tents, water purification kits, and oral rehydration sachets are just some of the items on this list.
There is a request for $19,000,000 from potential donors.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has organized a humanitarian air bridge to deliver supplies from Dubai.
Indrika Ratwatte, regional director for Asia and the Pacific at the UNHCR, said that four flights had already left by Monday.
There are still six more flights planned, and on each one, you can expect to find sleeping pads, tarps, and cooking gear.
He predicted that “the food insecurity is going to be tremendous” because the crops were destroyed and the livestock was decimated.
He predicted that “the food insecurity is going to be enormous.”
