KARACHI, Pakistan, Sept 16 (Reuters) - 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 ...
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.
The Sindh report 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 losses will slash the country’s GDP growth to around 3% from the estimated target of 5% set out in the budget at a time when it had narrowly escaped defaulting on its debt amid a balance of payment crisis.
The National Disaster Management Authority has reported 1,508 deaths due to the floods so far, including 536 children and 308 women.Hundreds of thousands of people who have been displaced are in dire need of food, shelter, clean drinking water, toilets and medicines.“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.
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