Pakistan is facing a severe risk of outbreaks of diarrhoea and dysentery as people have no choice but to drink contaminated and dirty flood water, WaterAid has warned.
WaterAid’s Country Director Arif Jabbar Khan, who is visiting some of the hardest hit communities in Sindh where the aid agency is delivering vital aid, was told by health officials that Malaria cases are on the rise following weeks of rain and flooding causing increased stagnant water.
Arif Jabbar Khan said: “Families are now living on the banks of overflowed canals and rivers in ramshackle huts made of bamboo and plastic. They have even been drinking flood water because there is no other option – a recipe for large scale disease outbreaks. We are doing all we can to reach them.”
Pakistan has been hit by devastating floods after heavy monsoon rains that have been going on since early June. The floods that have killed well over 1,100 people, with more than 33 million people affected. The water washed away safe water sources and toilets, and has inundated homes, schools, shelters in a third of the country.
Mr Arif Jabbar Khan continued: “Women’s privacy and menstrual hygiene are also at risk, the temporary latrines I have seen are barely covered and do not provide the privacy women need to manage their periods. Already a taboo subject in the country, women are now often forced to use dirty cloth as sanitary pads as they had to leave everything behind at short notice”
WaterAid is responding to the crisis in Pakistan and has allocated PKR 30 million (over US$136,000) for initial emergency relief to over 40,000 people affected by the floods.
It is handing out hygiene kits with soap and towels, it will disinfect drinking water sources, build temporary toilets in schools/camps, help with the clearance of flood water and support the specific needs of women and girls in the flood affected areas including provision of menstrual hygiene kits.
WaterAid are launching an appeal to raise money for these vital supplies.