Pakistan Floods: The situation in Pakistan has gone from bad to worse due to floods, thousands of people have died and millions have been rendered homeless. One third of the country is submerged in water. Crops have been destroyed and a large number of animals have also died. In the midst of all this, the sufferings of the people living in the relief camps are no less. Concerns have also been raised about the safety of pregnant women and girls, especially in these. Local media on Sunday quoted the provincial health minister as saying that more than 47,000 pregnant women affected by floods in Pakistan are forced to live in shelter camps in Sindh province.
Sindh Health Minister Azra Pechuho has shared the figures of women affected by the floods. He said that hundreds of thousands of people have been affected by various diseases after the floods. “In Sindh province, more than 134,000 cases of diarrhea and more than 44,000 cases of malaria have been reported,” the health minister was quoted as saying by Dawn.
73,000 women in the country will give birth to babies this month
On 30 August, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and a Sexual and Reproductive Health Agency said that there are at least 650,000 pregnant women in flood-affected areas, of whom 73,000 were carrying children in Pakistan this month. She was about to give birth. Now severely affected by floods and need maternal health care.
Risk of diseases due to flood, concern over women’s safety
The UN agency also warned that many women and girls were at increased risk of gender-based violence (GBV) as nearly one million homes were damaged in the floods, causing millions of victims across Pakistan. “September is expected to deliver 73,000 women who will need the assistance of skilled birth attendants, newborn care and others,” the agency quoted Bhor as saying.
The agency was quoted as saying that pregnancies and childbirth cannot wait for emergencies or natural disasters to end because a woman and child need the most care after delivery. According to the Dawn newspaper report, Health Minister Pechuho said that so far more than 100,000 skin-related cases, 101 snake bites and 500 dog bites have been reported among the flood-affected people.
floods in pakistan
Pakistan has faced unprecedented floods this year, which have affected nearly 33 lakh people in the country and displaced thousands. Due to internal displacement, more than 500,000 people are currently living in relief camps in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh and Punjab.
According to a report released by the health authorities on Saturday, more than 134,000 diarrhea cases have been reported from Sindh in the last two months. Similarly, official figures show that 44,832 cases of malaria have been reported during the monsoon rains since June this year. It states that 101 snakebite cases have also been reported.
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