Flooding In Pakistan Claims More Lives Amid Growing Threat Of Waterborne Illness
Women carry belongings salvaged from their flooded home after monsoon rains in Pakistan's Sindh Province.
Flooding in Pakistan has killed 17 more people in the past two days, officials said on September 21 as the United Nations Children’s Fund renewed its appeal for $39 million to help the most vulnerable flood victims.
Unprecedented monsoon rains and flooding have caused at least 1,576 deaths across Pakistan, including more than 550 children since mid-June, UNICEF said in a statement.
About half of the deaths occurred in Sindh Province, where many areas remain submerged, raising fears of the spread of waterborne diseases.
“Without a significant surge in support, we fear many more children will lose their lives," UNICEF said.
Many roads and bridges in Sindh Province have been washed away or are badly damaged, and thousands of families have no food, safe water, or medicines, the agency said.
Angelina Jolie Visits Flood-Hit Pakistan
1/8American actress Angelina Jolie (in black) listens through a translator to women in Pakistan's Dadu district after they were displaced by historic flooding that has deluged Pakistan since mid-June.
Jolie is a special UN envoy for refugees. She was previously in Pakistan as a special UN envoy after a deadly 2005 earthquake and after flooding in 2010.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
2/8Jolie wears a face mask as she speaks with a mother living in a makeshift shelter in the southern Dadu district.
The International Rescue Comittee (IRC) said in a statement before the actress's September 20 visit that Jolie would be there "to witness and gain understanding of the situation, and to hear from people affected directly about their needs, and about steps to prevent such suffering in the future."
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
3/8A boy wades through floodwaters in the Jaffarabad district in central Pakistan on September 19.
The 2022 monsoon season has dumped more than three times the average rainfall on Pakistan, leading to vast swaths of the country being submerged.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
4/8Internally displaced people gather to receive food handouts near a camp in flood-hit Sindh Province on September 19.
More than 1,500 people have been killed as a result of the floods, including a growing number from disease.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
5/8People on makeshift rafts are pulled across floodwaters in the Jaffarabad district on September 18.
The World Health Organization says a surge in sickness as a result of the flooding has the potential to become a "second disaster."
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
6/8Internally displaced people at a camp in Sindh Province on September 19.
More than 300 people have died from disease since July 1 and more than 2.7 million have been treated for water-borne illnesses at makeshift and mobile hospitals, according to Reuters.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
7/8A family who fled to higher ground is photographed in a temporary shelter in the Jaffarabad district on September 19.
The massive scale of the flooding is compounding the growing medical crisis as many hospitals remain submerged and unusable. Much of the country's food-growing farmland is also underwater.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
8/8A crowd of men affected by the floods await handouts organized by an Islamist political party in the southern city of Larkana.
Pakistani officials say it will take at least two months for the floodwaters to fully recede.
Oscar-winning actress Angelina Jolie met with locals in southern Pakistan on September 20 as the country struggles with an outbreak of disease amid massive floods.
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UNICEF said only a third of its $39 million appeal has been met so far.
Pakistani Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif met with world leaders on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on September 21 and urged philanthropists to donate baby food for children affected by the floods.
“God will reward you for this noble work," he said.
The UN also expressed its concern over illness among survivors. It said more than 134,000 cases of diarrhea and 44,000 cases of malaria were reported in Sindh Province this past week. Skin and eye infections, typhoid, and dengue fever have also been reported.
Hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the floods are living in the open, and the stagnant floodwaters have led to the spread of the diseases.
The UN said the situation may get out of control if the necessary aid does not arrive soon.
About three times as much rain fell in Pakistan during the monsoon season as the three-decade average. The rain combined with glacial melt to cause the flooding, which scientists say was exacerbated by climate change.
France plans to host an international conference before the end of the year on the climate-resilient reconstruction of Pakistan's flood-affected areas.
The announcement came after Sharif and French President Emmanuel Macron had a bilateral meeting on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly, the Pakistan Foreign Ministry said.
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