Scores of flood-affected villagers wait in line outside a charity clinic in a southern Pakistani town to talk with a volunteer doctor.
The village of Bhambro is situated in an underdeveloped area of Sindh province, that has been severely impacted by unprecedented floods that already have damaged more than a million homes and damaged crucial infrastructure, including hospitals.
To get to the facility, several people had to trek barefoot through dirty floodwater and muck.
Floods in Pakistan pose a serious health concern
“The foot of my child is in agonising discomfortAzra Bhambro, a 23-year-old woman whom have come to the clinic seeking assistance, admitted, “My feet as well.”
Scabies and fungal diseases are on the rise, according to Abdul Aziz, the doctor in charge of the Alkhidmat clinics in the area.
The World Health Organization asserts that scabies infections are common in crowded, tropical settings, including flood relief camps or shelters, and can result in excruciating itching and rashes.
Health dangers
The WHO warned that the millions of flood victims face serious health risks, including the possibility of contracting potentially lethal diseases like malaria and dengue fever.
Extremely vast areas of land have been drowned in the Sindh region of southern Pakistan, and several peasants have been forced to seek shelter, food assistance, and medical assistance in large towns.
The health concern is even bigger in areas like Bhambro, where health services were already insufficient, and for the tens of thousands taking refuge in packed rescue shelters. According to WHO, ongoing disease outbreaks in Pakistan, such as acute watery diarrhoea, dengue fever, malaria, polio, and Covid-19, are getting worse, particularly in camps and places where the infrastructure for water and sanitation has been damaged.
