KARACHI:
The reports of dengue and malaria outbreaks across the country coupled with a cholera outbreak in flood-affected areas signal the risk of a serious health crisis. Water accumulation on roads and storing water in open containers serve as a breeding ground for mosquitos, which results in mosquitos spreading across the city.
Other infectious and waterborne diseases, such as hepatitis, typhoid fever, cholera, dysentery, diarrhoea, and polio can also spread in crisis areas. These diseases spread when one comes into contact with contaminated water, and to our misfortune, one-third of the country is underwater.
This raises the question of how to prevent or contain a potential health crisis. Collective action is required to contain a major disease outbreak otherwise the country will be faced with several crises at once and may struggle to contain them. The federal and provincial governments and non-governmental organisations working in flood-stricken areas should provide mosquito protection nets to the people who have lost their homes and are sleeping under open skies. They should be given medicines and must be vaccinated against diseases as soon as the government has more apparatus. Besides volunteering and spreading awareness, the people in crisis zone should be provided with clean drinking water and a proper sanitation system should be arranged in the relief camps to minimise the risk of diseases. People living in unaffected areas must also take precautionary measures against dengue, malaria, and Covid19.
Maheer Jehangir Chaudhary
Published in The Express Tribune, September 2nd, 2022.
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