Flood-stricken Pakistan dealing with waterborne diseases, food shortages

Officials in Pakistan raised concern Wednesday over the spread of waterborne diseases among thousands of flood victims, as waters from powerful monsoon rains began to recede in many parts of the country.

Some doctors said initially they were seeing mostly patients traumatized by the flooding, but are now treating people suffering from diarrhea, skin infections and other waterborne ailments in the country's flood-hit areas. Many pregnant women living in flood-affected areas were also exposed to risks.

The development has forced the government to deploy additional medical teams, dispatch medicine and provide clean drinking water to survivors, many of whom are living in tents and makeshift homes.

The warning came a day after record-breaking floods prompted the United Nations to formally issue an appeal for $160 million US in emergency funding to the impoverished Islamic nation, where about a million homes have been damaged or destroyed.

According to the UNPopulation Fund, about 650,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas require maternal health services to ensure a safe pregnancy and childbirth.

"Up to 73,000 women expected to deliver next month will need skilled birth attendants, newborn care, and support," it said in a statement.

Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho, health minister in the country's worst-affected province of Sindh, said officials have set up 4,210 medical camps in the province's flood-hit areas to treat victims now suffering from skin and waterborne diseases, which are common during floods.

Authorities said waterborne diseases among flood victims are now common across the country.

"Initially we received injured people, but now diarrhea is common," said Farhad Khan, a physician in charge of a medical camp set up in the northwestern town of Charsadda. It is one of the worst flood-hit districts in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province bordering Afghanistan, where floods killed 257 people since mid-June.

Residents in southern Pakistan used sandbags to shield their homes from surging floodwaters that inundated a major highway on Wednesday, as global aid began arriving with food, medicine and tents to help alleviate thenational disaster.

Wednesday's flooding was caused by water gushing down from nearby mountains between the provinces of Sindh and Balochistan. Residents feared the situation could worsen as water from flooding in the north had yet to reach the southern province of Sindh and could do so in the coming days.

Major rivers, the Indus and the Kabul have reached "high to very high flood" levels that are likely to continue rising over the next 24 hours, the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) said.

Pakistan has received nearly 190 per centmore rain than the 30-year average in the quarter through August this year, totalling 390.7 millimetres. Sindh, with a population of 50 million, was hardest hit, getting 466 per centmore rain than the 30-year average.

Abnormal heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers triggered thefloods that have submerged a third of the country and killed at least 1,191 people, including 399 children. The UN has appealed for $160 million to help with what it calls an "unprecedented climate catastrophe."

Remote evacuations challenging

Pakistani authorities backed by the military, rescuers and volunteers, have struggled to evacuate marooned people to safer places. On Wednesday, military helicopters continued evacuating flood victims and delivering food to remote regions, according to a statement released by the military. It said it has deployed at least 6,500 troops to assist in rescue and relief operations.

Rescuers were also using boats to evacuate stranded people in southern Sindh province and in remote villages in eastern Punjab province. Floods in the past 24 hours damaged about 70,000 more homes in the country's northwest and southern Sindh province, according to the NDMA.

WATCH | Rebuilding could take 5 years:

Damage in deadly Pakistan flooding exceeds $10B US, officials say

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Duration 3:42

Pakistan's climate chief says a third of the country is underwater after monsoon floods damaged nearly one million homes and killed more than 1,000 people.

Food crisis looms

Vegetable and fruit prices have soared in markets across Pakistan as devastating rains ruin crops and disrupt supplies, an early sign of how the worst floods in decades are creating food shortages at a time of financial crisis.

Pakistan's 220 million people are already facing rampant inflation, with consumer prices up 24.9 per centyear-on-year in July. The economy is in turmoil, with fast-depleting foreign reserves and a record depreciation of the rupee against the U.S. dollar.

In the eastern city of Lahore, close to the border with India and far from the worst floods in Sindh, prices of some vegetables have tripled.

"Last week, I sold onions for 90 rupees ($0.54 Cdn) a kgand today the government price is 300 ($1.79 Cdn) per kg," said vegetable seller Ahmad Ali. The Pakistani government sets prices for some fresh produce, although traders often ignore the guidelines.

Tomatoes and onions are among the most common ingredients in Pakistani cooking, and tens of thousands of tonnes of each are consumed each month.

"The supply of vegetables and fruit to Lahore is getting lower day by day because of the flood, rains and destruction to roads," said Malik Salim Awan, a supplier at Lahore's fruit and vegetable market.

"Before the current scenario, we were receiving over 100 trucks (of fresh produce) daily. Now, we receive 10 to 15 trucks only," Awan said.

Officials say that more than 809,371 hectaresof agricultural land have been flooded, destroying most standing crops and preventing farmers from sowing new ones.

The government of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif is scrambling to secure supplies.

"The rice crop has been washed away," Sharif told reporters after visiting northern Pakistan. "Fruit and vegetables are gone." He said flood waters had swept away 700,000 livestock.

Pakistan's agrarian sector powers the economy and feeds the people, accounting for more than a fifth of the country's output, employing up to 40 per centof the workforce and producing goods worth around $80 billion US annually.

Commerce Minister Naveed Qamar said on Wednesday that the government was close to an agreement to import vegetables and other edible goods from Iran and Afghanistan, and an urgent request had gone to the cabinet to approve it.

"Prices are up already,"Qamar told a news conference, citing the fallout of the floods.

"If you go to buy onions, you wouldn't get it. If you go to buy tomatoes, you will get it at a much higher price."

WATCH | Canadian in Pakistan calls for help for flood victims:

Canadian in Pakistan urges fellow citizens to help flood victims

2 years ago

Duration 7:14

The president of the Canada Pakistan Trade & Cultural Association is asking Canadians to help fund the massive relief effort underway after a third of Pakistan was overwhelmed with floods.