UN Calls for Increased Flood Relief Effort in Pakistan
- 14 years ago
The United Nations called for scaling up relief efforts in Pakistan's flooded regions on Wednesday, after floodwaters displaced thousands of people.
A joint high-level UN delegation took a helicopter trip to flood affected areas.
[Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Office of Emergency Programs]: (English)
"Here in the south, we have visited a camp in the morning where people have been displaced only six days ago. We are having serious challenges to scale up again, because it has been like this for six weeks. So, the issue is to be able to transfer some of the teams and supply and capacity that we had in the north down into the south more quickly than we have been doing.”
Up to 250-thousand people have been displaced from a breached embankment and overflowing from the Manchar, Pakistan's largest freshwater lake.
Roads and bridges have been destroyed, farms and fields inundated and vital crops lost.
The spread of water-borne diseases is one of the big concerns of the government and donor agencies.
[Guido Sabatinelli, World Health Organization Representative]: (English)
"Malnutrition and diseases can affect children, such as diarrhea, measles, malaria, and acute respiratory infection. Any mild infection can be very serious for malnourished children."
Massive floods have also heightened the risk of an increase in polio cases in Pakistan.
A joint high-level UN delegation took a helicopter trip to flood affected areas.
[Louis-Georges Arsenault, UNICEF Office of Emergency Programs]: (English)
"Here in the south, we have visited a camp in the morning where people have been displaced only six days ago. We are having serious challenges to scale up again, because it has been like this for six weeks. So, the issue is to be able to transfer some of the teams and supply and capacity that we had in the north down into the south more quickly than we have been doing.”
Up to 250-thousand people have been displaced from a breached embankment and overflowing from the Manchar, Pakistan's largest freshwater lake.
Roads and bridges have been destroyed, farms and fields inundated and vital crops lost.
The spread of water-borne diseases is one of the big concerns of the government and donor agencies.
[Guido Sabatinelli, World Health Organization Representative]: (English)
"Malnutrition and diseases can affect children, such as diarrhea, measles, malaria, and acute respiratory infection. Any mild infection can be very serious for malnourished children."
Massive floods have also heightened the risk of an increase in polio cases in Pakistan.