In response to Pakistan’s devastating floods, Doctors Without Borders (MSF), a global network of doctors and other professionals that specialize in medical humanitarian assistance, has mobilized to support numerous initiatives.
More than 1 000 people have died, more than 1 500 have been injured, more than 1 million homes have been destroyed or damaged, and at least 33 million people have been affected by the flooding that has ravaged more than 70% of Pakistan.
This makes sense given that the country got double the normal monsoon rainfall and that Balochistan and Sindh provinces saw rainfall that was more than four times the 30-year average.
In Balochistan, 31 of the 33 districts have suffered significant damage. Over the past two weeks, there has been substantial flooding in the vicinity of Dera Murad Jamali (DMJ).
Our Doctors Without Borders (MSF) teams, which included personnel whose own homes had been inundated, reacted immediately to give basic healthcare to people swarming the streets and gathering in schools. Numerous people who have lost their homes have erected temporary shelters beside or close to the roads.
Balochistan, Sind, Punjab, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa are the four provinces of Pakistan where we are currently assessing and responding to the humanitarian crisis. To provide primary healthcare, and health promotion activities, especially referrals to the MSF-supported District Headquarters hospital, DMJ, we have established mobile clinics in the area.
The majority of patients who have been treated have respiratory infections, fevers, skin conditions, and diarrhea.
Based on the expected numbers of impacted individuals, humanitarian organizations and others must urgently ramp up their response. The most urgent needs are shelter and access to clean water.
Long-term measures must be done to protect the communities that are currently displaced and languishing in places that remain vulnerable to more flooding because it is anticipated that the rain will continue throughout the monsoon season.
Food and other supplies are running out because all roads and entry points are entirely underwater. To stop the spread of disease, there is an urgent need for appropriate water supply and sanitary conditions. Malaria and other vector-borne illnesses are predicted to spread more widely.
Our teams are currently evaluating the demands and putting together the necessary plans.
