Winter hazard

With the winter season fast approaching, health officials have expressed concerns over the vulnerability of newborn babies, their mothers and pregnant women in flood relief camps. In less than two months, 4,000 babies are born in Sindh’s flood camps. These people are already living in extraordinary conditions far from their homes and will be faced with higher risks during the harsh winter.

Containing disease outbreaks in flood-affected areas and relief camps have already been challenging for healthcare officials and workers. The absence of adequate support against the cold weather will further raise risks of viral outbreaks, which may become life-threatening for newborns and pregnant women. Considering the slow and inadequate relief response, these people will most likely face difficult conditions in the future as well. Their diets and nutrition intake were already insufficient and are now further compromised. This will affect their physical health and wellbeing and raise the likelihood of malnutrition and stunting. The floods and subsequent displacement have generated trauma among many. Pregnant women and new mothers can be faced with additional mental distress as they are forced to raise their children in unfamiliar and uncomfortable conditions.

Currently, healthcare experts and officials are faced with multiple challenges at once. They will require support from the federal government, non-governmental organisations, and civil society to amplify efforts to provide the most vulnerable with warm clothing and other supportive items. To ensure greater protection, newborns and pregnant women must be vaccinated against flu and other diseases. The precautionary measures should not be limited to Sindh alone; healthcare departments of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa must also step up efforts to support pregnant women and new mothers in flood-affected areas in their respective provinces during winters.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 13^th, 2022.

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