Connect with us

Pakistan

Children, women suffer from water-borne diseases as Pakistan floods recede

Published

on

  • 536 children among 1,508 killed.
  • Over 90,000 patients treated in a day.
  • Situation for families “beyond bleak”.

Children and women are becoming more vulnerable as tens of thousands of people suffer from infectious and water-borne diseases in flood-hit Pakistan, government data showed and UNICEF said on Friday, as the total death toll from the inundation surpassed 1,500.

As flood waters begin to drain away, which officials say may take two to six months in different areas, the flooded regions have become infested with diseases including malaria, dengue fever, diarrhoea and skin problems, the southern Sindh provincial government said in a report issued on Friday.

It said more than 90,000 people were treated on Thursday alone in the province, which has been the hardest hit by the cataclysmic floods.

The report confirmed 588 malaria cases with another 10,604 suspected cases, in addition to the 17,977 diarrhoea and 20,064 skin disease cases reported on Thursday. A total of 2.3 million patients have been treated since July 1 in the field and mobile hospitals set up in the flooded region.

A man rides a boat past toll plaza amid flood water on main Indus highway, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan, Pakistan September 15, 2022. — Reuters
A man rides a boat past toll plaza amid flood water on main Indus highway, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Sehwan, Pakistan September 15, 2022. — Reuters

Record monsoon rains in south and southwest Pakistan and glacial melt in northern areas triggered the flooding that has impacted 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.

The National Disaster Management Authority has reported 1,508 deaths, including 536 children and 308 women.

Hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced are in dire need of support in term of food, shelter, clean drinking water, toilets, and medicines.

Many have been sleeping in the open by the side of elevated highways.

“I have been in flood-affected areas for the past two days. The situation for families is beyond bleak, and the stories I heard paint a desperate picture,” said Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF Representative in Pakistan, after visiting the flooded areas.

“All of us on the ground see malnourished children battling diarrhoea and malaria, dengue fever, and many with painful skin conditions,” he said in a statement.

He said a lot of the mothers were anaemic and malnourished themselves, and with very low-weight babies, being exhausted or ill and unable to breastfeed.

Millions of families are now living with little more than rags to protect themselves from the scorching sun as temperatures in some areas pass 40 degrees Celsius, Fadil said.

The torrential monsoon, which submerged huge swathes of Pakistan, was a one in a hundred-year event likely made more intense by climate change, scientists said on Thursday.

Continue Reading
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Latest News

Session of the National Assembly: Government Prioritising Youth Skill Development: Ch Salik Hussain

Published

on

By

The National Assembly was informed that the government is concentrating on developing the skills of young people in order to meet the demand for skilled workers in other countries. To this end, the government has inked agreements with several countries.

Continue Reading

Latest News

PTA provides a significant update on Pakistan’s Starlink launch.

Published

on

By

Starlink applied for a license on February 24, 2022, and is currently in communication with the new regulatory body, according to a briefing given to the National Assembly Standing Committee on IT, which was chaired by Senator Palwasha Khan, the PTA Chairman.

Starlink needs to register with both the PSB and the Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) before to starting its satellite services in Pakistan. According to the PTA Chairman, the body will proceed with further actions after the registration procedure is over.

Along with Starlink, Shanghai Space Technology is also making its debut in Pakistan, which should boost internet access and spur technical advancement in the nation.

The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) has also made it plain that until it has government approval, it is unable to grant a license to Elon Musk’s satellite internet service, Starlink.

The chairman stated that Starlink has promised to adhere to government regulations and not circumvent the system.

The committee also chose to call a meeting of the Space and Upper Atmosphere Research Commission (SUPARCO) to take up the topic of space technology regulation. Additionally, the committee asked why the PTA is assigning its duties to other groups.

Prior to the launch of Starlink in Pakistan, Elon Musk, the CEO of SPACEX, stated that he was seeking permission from the Pakistani government.

According to information, Pakistani social media user Sanam Jamali and Elon Musk had a discussion on the launch of Starlink in Pakistan on the social media site X (previously Twitter).

Sanam asked Musk to launch Starlink in Pakistan, claiming that it might open the door to a better future by giving people access to the internet and chances to advance.

In response, Musk said that he is awaiting Pakistani official approval to introduce Starlink there. Through a massive network of satellites, SpaceX’s Starlink offers internet services.

Starlink

SpaceX, a private aircraft manufacturer and space transport services provider established by Elon Musk, is the developer of the Starlink satellite internet network. The constellation uses a network of thousands of tiny satellites in low Earth orbit (LEO) to deliver fast, dependable, and worldwide internet connectivity.

The way we access the internet could be completely changed by this cutting-edge technology, particularly in isolated and underdeveloped locations where conventional fiber-optic and cellular networks are scarce or nonexistent.

High-speed internet access with latency as low as 20 ms is what the Starlink constellation is intended to provide; this is on par with or even better than many current fiber-optic networks.

Every Starlink satellite includes a phased array antenna, which enables it to connect with numerous users at once, offering a flexible and high-capacity network. Fast and dependable internet connection is available to users from almost anywhere in the world with Starlink, which is an exciting advancement for digital inclusion and global connectedness.

Continue Reading

Latest News

The government has dismissed the PTI’s request for a judicial panel probing the violence on May 9.

Published

on

By

The federal government’s negotiation team has completed a comprehensive written reply to the demands put out by PTI.

The statement addresses all points presented by PTI, including the rejection to establish a judicial panel for the events of May 9.

The administration highlighted that judicial commissions are constituted for issues not subject to judicial review, and cases pertaining to May 9 are currently being adjudicated in courts, with certain persons having been condemned by military tribunals.

PTI has consented to engage in negotiations with the Prime Minister’s committee. An in-camera session has been arranged at Parliament House to further deliberate on the topic.

The letter response requests comprehensive lists of missing persons and arrested individuals from PTI, inquiring how measures for their release may be implemented without adequate information. Furthermore, PTI’s assertions concerning fatalities during protests necessitate corroborative data.

The government committee intends to deliver the written response to National Assembly Speaker Ayaz Sadiq in the imminent future. The Speaker will determine whether to convene the fourth round of discussions upon receipt of the response.

Continue Reading

Trending