Pakistan flood death toll rises, agencies warn country needs long-term aid
The death toll from Pakistan’s devastating floods continues to rise, and things are getting worse. The official death toll now stands at 1,325, including 466 children. Up to 33 million people have been affected by the floods. Pakistan’s total population is 220.9 million.
Now, UN officials are warning that Pakistan’s situation is likely to keep going downhill. The country is now desperately working to prevent its biggest lake, Manchar Lake, from overflowing. Authorities said on Monday that 100,000 people have been displaced in efforts to keep the lake from overflowing. They said that if the lake breaches its banks, it could affect hundreds of thousands more.
One health minister for Pakistan’s southern province said that the region already has problems with water-borne and skin diseases, dengue fever, snake bites, and breathing issues. She said that since Pakistan’s terrible floods began in July, there have been 856,000 patients treated. Field hospitals have seen almost 20,000 diarrhoea and 16,000 malaria cases daily. But now, more than 1,200 of Pakistan’s healthcare facilities are under water, she said.
The floods have also damaged or destroyed 17,566 schools across Pakistan, according to UNICEF.
Leaders of aid agencies say that Pakistan’s troubles will not be over in merely a few months, the country now needs long-term aid. Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif estimated last week that the flooding had caused more than US$10 billion in damage to infrastructure, homes and farms.
