Pakistan Floods: Millions left homeless

Severe floods in Pakistan at the beginning of August have resulted in extensive damage. Forced to leaves their homes, millions of people have literally lost everything. Displaced families find themselves in temporary shelters such as this school where 800 people are living :

Bacha Zareen
"At 8 pm the water level started rising, at 9 it was getting higher, and by 10 pm, our house was totally surrounded by water, and then all the houses were surrounded too. All of the roads were closed, we had to leave everything and run for our lives."

Médecins Sans Frontières has been working in Pakistan since 1988.
Teams on the ground were able to provide assistance to victims immediately after the flooding, supporting hospitals as well as setting up mobiles clinics.

The areas affected, however, are difficult to access.

Since the flooding began, Médecins Sans Frontières doctors have provided approximately 10,000 medical consultations, the most common complaints being diarhhoea as well as skin and respiratory infections caused by the overcrowded living conditions.

Dr BAKHT BILAND
« He says it started raining again when he started to work again in to rebuild his home again. Then he started to face problems like skin itching. »

A lack of hygiene and water, combined with overcrowded living conditions are perfect ground for water-related illnesses such as dysentery or cholera, which is endemic in the country.

Médecins Sans Frontières is monitoring closely any changes in the health of the population and is trying to prevent epidemics emerging.

Olga Em, Médecins Sans Frontières doctor (in English)
We’ll see if it’s possible to use this room for the stock, just in case of cholera cases. We’re just arranging with logistics in case a new flood comes -  this is the ground floor, so we’re seeing how we’ll manage.

Medical care is for the most part provided by local healthcare services. Médecins Sans Frontières is focusing its activities on the population’s other needs. Teams have so far distributed more than 7000 kits consisting of essential non-food items.

650 Afghan families have settled in this refugee camp in the Peshawar district. Each family has received a tent, a set of blankets, cooking utensils and a hygiene kit.

This man fled Afghanistan 3 years ago because of the war. His home has been destroyed by the floods:

SHIR MOHAMMAD
"We needed all these things, because when the floods came, we tried to save our belongings but everything got soaked  in water. Everything’s dirty and smelly. The  doctor told us not use our things, that maybe we’d catch diseases…"

The flood waters that invaded the towns swept away everything and left water sources polluted.

To improve access to clean water, Médecins Sans Frontières has set up water tanks in the most populated zones.

More isolated groups, like these people living on the side of a motorway, are regularly supplied with water by trucks.

The organisation is distributing a total of 310,000 litres of water a day.

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 Pakistan: Increasing response, more to be done - 25-08-10 09:07