To counter the epidemics that broke out in Pakistan, the authorities deployed thousands of additional doctors and paramedics in the worst flood-affected provinces in the country to contain the spread of epidemics, according to the Associated Press.
Monsoon rains and floods, which many experts say are caused by climate change, have affected 33 million people, caused at least 1,596 deaths, and damaged two million homes across Pakistan, with losses estimated at tens of billions of dollars.
Government figures say infectious diseases have killed more than 300 people among the flood victims.
The Ministry of Health reported that some doctors who refused to work in Sindh province were dismissed by the government.
Floods have killed 724 people, including 311 children and 133 women, in the province since July.
About half a million flood survivors are homeless, living in tents and makeshift buildings.
In the past two months, Pakistan has sent nearly 10,000 doctors, nurses and other medical staff to serve survivors in health facilities and medical camps across Sindh province.
The floods destroyed more than a thousand health facilities in Sindh, forcing survivors to travel to other areas to seek medical help.
In the past two months, waterborne and other diseases have killed 334 flood victims.
Last week’s death toll prompted the World Health Organization to sound the alarm about a “second catastrophe”, as doctors race on the ground to fight the outbreak.
Some of the flood waters in Pakistan have receded, but many areas in Sindh remain submerged, and displaced people living in tents and makeshift camps are at risk of gastrointestinal infections, dengue fever and malaria, which are on the rise in relief camps.
The devastation prompted the United Nations to consider sending more funds than it committed in its flash appeal for $160 million to support Pakistan’s flood response.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who is in New York, will address the United Nations General Assembly on Friday to request more help from the international community.
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