[NEWS] WHO chief sounds alarm on ‘second disaster’ as flood victims in Sindh grapple with disease outbreak

[Dr@g0n]

The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sounded the alarm over an impending “second disaster” of disease and death as concerns grow over the spread of water-borne diseases among the flood-hit people in Sindh. The warning, issued late on Saturday by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on the nation to generously donate baby food and blankets for flood-affected people on an urgent basis. In the statement, the WHO chief also urged donors to continue to respond generously to “save lives and prevent more suffering”. He highlighted that the water supply was disrupted in flood-hit areas, forcing people to drink unsafe water which could cause cholera and other diseases.“Health centres have been flooded, their supplies damaged, and people have moved away from home which makes it harder for them to access their normal health services.” He pointed out that health workers in the country were stretched to the limit as they did all they could do to deliver critical services amid the destruction. “Nearly 2,000 health facilities have been fully or partially damaged.” He said the WHO had provided water purification kits and oral rehydration salts to manage diarrhoeal diseases.

WHO immediately released $10 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies which enabled us to deliver essential medicines and other supplies to the country, he added. He also thanked donors for their “prompt response” to the United Nations’ flash appeal. “We continue to assess the scale of the crisis and will issue a revised appeal shortly,” he said. Another 90,000 patients treated in a day in Sindh The Sindh health department, meanwhile, said a total of 2.5 million patients had been treated at different medical camps across the province from July 1 to date. As many as 594,241 patients were treated for skin-related diseases, followed by diarrhea (534,800), malaria (10,702), dengue (1,401), and other diseases (120,745,1), stated a report by the Sindh Directorate General Health Services. The report also showed that 90,398 patients were treated during the last 24 hours, of which 17,919 had diarrhea, 19,746 had skin-related diseases, 695 had malaria and 388 had dengue. Around 92,797 citizens were treated in the province on September 15. Speaking to Dawn.com, Dadu District Health Officer (DHO) Dr Muhammad Ali Samejo said different diseases, mainly gastro and malaria, were being reported among the district’s flood-hit people. A displaced woman holds her ailing boy, while taking refuge in a camp, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan on Friday (Sep 16). — Reuters Dr Irshad Memon, an officer at a medical camp in Dadu, said at least 18,289 pregnant women had been screened from Aug 25 to Sep 17. Dr Karim Mirani, who works for Dadu Civil Hospital, told Dawn.com that the hospital had been flooded with patients due to rampant disease spread. “We are accommodating four to five children on a single bed due to the huge influx of patients,” he said. Floods from record monsoon rains and glacial melt in the mountainous north have affected 33 million people and killed more than 1,540 since June 14, washing away homes, roads, railways, livestock and crops, in damage estimated at $30 billion. Both the government and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres have blamed climate change for the extreme weather that led to the flooding, which submerged nearly a third of the country.
Link:https://www.dawn.com/news/1710736/who-chief-sounds-alarm-on-second-disaster-as-flood-victims-in-sindh-grapple-with-disease-outbreak