PAKISTAN: Children face risk of deadly diseases such as cholera and malaria as floods expected this month
ISLAMABAD, 17 July 2024 – Thousands of children in Pakistan are at risk of deadly disease as the country braces itself for above normal monsoon rains and potential flooding that is becoming more frequent and severe due to climate change, said Save the Children.
Almost 26,500 suspected cases of cholera, over 1.3 million cases of malaria and over 11,600 cases of dengue have already been recorded this year, according to the government’s National Institute for Health (NIH), an increase from 2023*, with cases likely to rise as Pakistan prepares for what experts say will be another particularly wet monsoon season. [1]
Two years ago, devastating floods displaced more than 8 million people and submerged large parts of the country. The country’s Disaster Management Agency has warned that displacement, damage to infrastructure and an increase in diseases linked to flooding are likely this year [2].
Children are particularly vulnerable to water and vector-borne diseases that are endemic in Pakistan with cholera and malaria among the leading killers of children in Pakistan as poor sanitation, contaminated water, overpopulation and poverty combine with the effects of climate crisis such as heavy flooding.
Malaria and dengue hit children harder due to their weaker immune systems and the fact that they tend to play outside where there is less protection against mosquitoes. Cholera meanwhile takes a heavier toll on young children, especially those under the age of 5 who are at higher risk of severe dehydration and death during cholera outbreaks.
Extreme monsoon rains in 2022 followed by Pakistan’s worst flooding on record triggered a record outbreak of cholera and malaria in the country. While this year’s rains are not expected to be as heavy as those in 2022, the UN last week warned that 3 million people in Pakistan could be affected. [3]
School closures, cases of water and vector-borne diseases and children’s particular susceptibility to extreme heat or drowning in floods demonstrate the unique impacts of the climate crisis on children.
Khuram Gondal, Save the Children’s Country Director in Pakistan, said:
"We need to see much more ambition on child-responsive climate finance from high-income countries and historical emitters that puts children's distinct needs and vulnerabilities front and centre as when disasters like these floods strikes, it affects a child's whole world. They must also commit to climate adaptation measures and help build the resilience of communities to climate-related shocks.”
While monsoon rains are normal in Pakistan, impacts such as flooding are now more frequent and severe due to climate change. Pakistan is among the world’s ten most vulnerable countries to climate change, while contributing less than 1% of the world’s total global carbon emissions.
Save the Children is part of the government task forces on cholera and on improving water and sanitation, which aim to efforts to strengthen surveillance, monitoring, and coordination around disease outbreaks.
Save the Children is also ready to respond to this year’s monsoon season, pre-positioning essential items that will help with the management of diseases such as oral rehydration salts, water purification tablets, zinc supplements, cholera treatment kits, intravenous fluids and other items, in coordination with national authorities.[5]
Save the Children has been working in Pakistan since 1979 and has reached at least 14 million people, including children, through programmes in health and nutrition, education, child protection, livelihoods and through our humanitarian response programmes.
ENDS
* National diseases data by Pakistan’s NIH for every week in 2023 is unavailable or incomplete, but available data shows cases of cholera, malaria and dengue have all increased in 2024.
[1] Compiled by Save the Children from weekly Integrated Disease Surveillance and Response (IDSR) Reports by the NIH, as of 16 June 2024.
[4] National Cholera Control Strategic Plan (Pakistan) 2024-2028
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