3.5m children at risk of deadly diseases: UN

Source: Express Tribune

Date: 17 Aug, 2010

ISLAMABAD: Up to 3.5 million children are at high risk from deadly water-borne diseases as a result of the devastating floods, a UN spokesman said Monday.

Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), said the World Health Organisation (WHO) was also preparing to assist tens of thousands of people in case of Cholera.

“WHO is preparing to assist up to 140,000 people in case there is any Cholera, but the government has not notified us of any confirmed case,” the spokesman told AFP.

Typhoid, hepatitis A and E are also concerns, he said.

“What concerns us the most is water and health. Clean water is essential to prevent deadly water-borne diseases. Water during the flood has been contaminated badly. There is a shortage of clean water,” he added.

OCHA said it feared that Pakistan was on the brink of a “second wave of death” unless more donor funds materialise.

“The mortality caused by the incidence of these diseases is increasing. We don’t have figures at this moment, but WHO is working round the clock in support for the government to come up with numbers,” said Giuliano.

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