KARACHI: Pakistan was going through the most difficult time in its history in the wake of floods, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said as six more people died of waterborne diseases in Sindh over the last 24 hours.

“Today, I discussed flood damages and financial challenges in my meetings with the world leaders,” he said in a message on Wednesday. Premier Shehbaz, who is in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly session, is having meetings with the heads of state on the sidelines of the event.

At least 14,000 diarrhoea cases, 11,000 dengue cases and over 9,000 malaria cases were reported in the most affected province over the last 24 hours, the provincial health department data showed.

The global health body, World Health Organisation, on September 18 expressed concerns over the potential for a second disaster in Pakistan in form of an outbreak of waterborne diseases and malnutrition after the water supply was disrupted.

Skin infections, diarrhoea and malaria are rampant in parts of Pakistan’s flood-ravaged regions, killing 324 people since July 1, authorities said on Wednesday, adding that the situation may get out of control if required aid doesn’t arrive.

Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the floods are living in the open, and as floodwaters - spread over hundreds of kilometres - may take two to six months to recede, stagnant waters have led to serious health issues.

With the country’s already weak health system and lack of support, displaced families have complained of being forced to drink and cook with disease-ridden water.

“The aid is slow to arrive,” said Dr Farah Naureen, Mercy Corps’ country director for Pakistan after visiting several submerged regions.

The provincial government and the national nerve centre for coordinated relief efforts have admitted that there were still areas where relief items have not been reached. Sharjeel Memon, Sindh information minister, several times supported the media’s criticism, saying that it helped the government in reaching out to the people.

Efforts were under way to reach all flood affected areas, Major General Zafar Iqbal, the NFRCC coordinator, said in a media briefing on Tuesday. He added that more time was needed for road restoration and pulls construction.

“We need to work in a coordinated manner to respond to their immediate needs,” she said in a statement late Monday, prioritising clean drinking water. Health and nutrition stand out as the most important needs of the displaced population, she said.

The Sindh provincial government on Wednesday said makeshift health facilities and mobile camps in the flooded areas had treated more than 78,000 patients in the last 24 hours, and more than 2 million since July 1. As many as 44 dengue wards have been established in Sindh to treat people.

Out of them, six died, it said.

Deaths from diseases aren’t among the 1,569 people who were killed in flash floods, including 555 children and 320 women, the country’s disaster management agency said on Wednesday.

A historic and intense monsoon dumped about three times as much rain on Pakistan as the three-decade average, which, combined with glacial melt, caused unprecedented flooding.

The deluge has affected nearly 33 million people in the South Asian nation of 220 million, sweeping away homes, crops, bridges, roads and livestock in damages estimated at $30 billion.

Officials are warning they now risk losing control of the spread of infections in a dire situation that the WHO described as “utterly heartbreaking”.

Baby food shortage

The premier in his video message said he had been informed about the baby food shortage during a virtual meeting on the flood situation.

“I was told in the meeting that there is a shortage of baby food. Hence, I appeal to the affluent and especially to baby food manufacturers … to supply it to the NDMA, PDMA, armed forces or through any other means to flood-affected people,” he said, adding that such efforts would help ensure “satisfactory arrangements” for the provision of such a necessary item among the flood-hit population.

PM Shehbaz said that he had spoken about the devastation caused by floods in meetings he had held in New York earlier in the day and highlighted the economic difficulties the country had been facing as a result of the devastation.

“In my interactions with the world leaders on the sidelines of UNGA session, I apprised them of the flood disaster and highlighted the need for a collective action to deal with climate change. I also told them Pakistan is keen to build partnerships in the realms of trade and economy,” he reiterated in a tweet.

Moreover, France has agreed to mobilise international support for Pakistan to help recover the latter’s economy on a sustainable footing in the aftermath of the recent devastating floods related to climate change.

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has said that the government has decided to start a campaign in coordination with university students for making over two million food packets for flood-affected children and mothers.

“This is not a time to sit. This is the time to get up for the 1/3 of Pakistanis and help flood victims,” he said while briefing the media on NFRCC decisions on Tuesday.

(With input from Reuters)

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