Responding to Floods in Pakistan

Heavy rains and floods in Pakistan have affected more than one-third of the country and caused more than 1,700 deaths. Five months after the disaster, more than 6 million people remain in dire need of humanitarian assistance. According to reports from the field, more than 40% of those affected people are still living along roads in temporary shelters in unsanitary conditions, often with limited access to basic services—thus heightening the risk of a major public health crisis.

The floodwaters have started receding in many districts of Sindh and Balochistan, and families have started returning to their villages, but vulnerabilities remain due to a lack of adequate shelter, tents and food items, including safe drinking water. Cases of water and vector-borne diseases continue to remain a major concern, due to stagnant water that is still present in their communities. Among other challenges, low stocks of essential medicines and medical supplies continue to pose hurdles to providing adequate health services to people in need. Moreover, the winter season in many of the affected areas is fast approaching and is likely to negatively affect the population in the coming weeks. Without adequate shelters and blankets, it is likely the health situation of those affected will quickly worsen.

According to United Nations Population Fund, around 5.1 million women in affected areas are of childbearing age and 410,846 are currently pregnant, with 136,950 expected to give birth in the next few months.

The floods have also aggravated food insecurity and malnutrition, as the agricultural land in flood-affected areas is still inundated and livestock has perished. About 14.6 million people will likely require emergency food assistance from December 2022 through March 2023. According to the latest National Nutrition Survey estimates, almost 1.6 million children in Sindh and Balochistan are at risk of malnutrition that will require treatment, and stunting rates among children will rise if they do not receive treatment in a timely manner.

International Medical Corps is supporting the Department of Health in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh provinces by providing medical assistance through consultations and essential medicines for a variety of conditions, including diarrhea, acute respiratory infections, malaria, skin and eye infections, snake bites and typhoid. We also are providing water purification tablets to thousands of people in both districts.

We have deployed 11 mobile medical teams (MMTs) in severely affected districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh that are providing emergency medical assistance and essential medicines to underserved and displaced community members. Eight of the teams are working in Sindh, targeting Dadu, Jamshoro and Mirpur Khas, while the rest of the teams are carrying out operations in the Charsadda district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.