Children succumb to water-borne diseases after floods wreak havoc in Pakistan

Sindh: Amid the ongoing devastation caused by floods across Pakistan, children are dying from cholera, an acute diarrheal illness contracted by drinking water contaminated with bacteria.

According to CNN, more than 10 children are dying every day at the Mother and Child Healthcare Hospital in Pakistan's Sindh province alone, according to doctors at the facility from Cholera which is a water-related ailment that stemmed from devastating floods in the South-Asian country. Balochistan and Sindh have been attacked by numerous infections that caused devastation in the two provinces.

The stagnant floodwaters have led to widespread cases of skin and eye infections, diarrhoea, malaria, typhoid and dengue fever across numerous provinces in Pakistan, triggering health threats to people in Pakistan.

"The floods came and the rain fell. And then our patients came in like the floods," said Dr. Nazia Urooj, the physician in charge of the hospital's children's emergency unit, CNN reported.

The number of malaria cases in the country had gone up to 229.

Despite the efforts of the government and local and foreign relief organisations, many people are in urgent need of food and medicine in flood-hit regions despite the efforts of the government and humanitarian organisations, according to the Express Tribune.

A majority of Pakistanis are unhappy with the government's response to the unprecedented natural disaster that has ravaged millions of lives in the cash-strapped country, according to a survey.

After six weeks of flooding, many families from 15 locations were found living under the open sky on roads, and without tents.

Since June this year, Pakistan has endured harsh monsoon weather resulting in a serious humanitarian and development crisis.

According to government estimates, about 33 million people across the country have been affected by unrelenting heavy rains and flooding - the worst in decades.
Millions of acres of crops and orchards - many of those ready to harvest - have been damaged and destroyed, and the next planting season is threatened. Agriculture is a critical source of sustenance and livelihood for the majority of families in Pakistan, and for the economy of the country.

Besides, 103 dams have also been damaged due to heavy rainfall and flooding in the province while crops on over 900,000 acres of land were also damaged. 2,198 km of roads and 22 bridges have also been damaged amid the calamity, ARY News reported.

Pakistan has a total of 160 districts. To date, half of these across the country is declared "calamity hit." And that number is expected to increase.