Sindh floods: Lives of two million people at risk from diseases says NGO

Save the children claim to have already reached 16,200 people with supplies, scaling up efforts to reach 1 million.

KARACHI: An international NGO has warned that the lives of two million people, over half of them children, are at severe risk from diseases as devastating flooding continues in Sindh.

In a press release posted on their website on Wednesday, the humanitarian organisation said as rains continue, children in flood-hit areas of Sindh face increased risk of malaria, diarrhoea and other waterborne diseases.

"This is a desperately serious situation," said David Wright, Save the Children’s Pakistan country director.

"The lives of children in Sindh are at risk from both malaria and new floodwaters contaminated by the sewage from several major towns. At several camps, a hundred people are sharing a single toilet. Many children in Sindh are already weak and malnourished – malaria or waterborne diseases could kill them within days."

The organisation has launched a major emergency response to get life-saving help to children and claim to have already reached 16,200 people with vital aid supplies and is scaling up its efforts to reach 1 million people in total.

Save the Children is currently distributing mosquito nets, soap and other hygiene items in addition to providing food, emergency healthcare and shelter items to families.