The Pakistan Floods 2010 - Pakistan Flood Relief Appeal


Dr Manzoor Butt

Maqbool Clinic
Rawalpindi
Email: drmanzoor@ymail.com

The 2010 Pakistan floods began in July 2010 after record heavy monsoon rains. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan was affected first. Thereafter, the floods entered in Punjab and now it is causing extreme devastation in Sind. The floods are described as the worst in the country in the last 80 years.

Estimates from rescue-service-officials suggest the death-toll has reached 3,000 victims. According to a recent estimate of the United Nations, the number of people suffering from these massive floods in Pakistan exceeds 20 million, which is more than the combined total of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the 2005 Kashmir earthquake and the 2010 Haiti earthquake. The disaster has done harm to struggling Pakistani economy due to extensive damage to infrastructure, crops and loss of livestock. Power lines are down and damage has been done to hospitals, schools and sanitation systems. Many families are camping out in schools and other building located on higher ground.

About 46 of Pakistan's 135 districts have been affected by the flooding. Many health facilities have been destroyed, resulting in a loss of tons of medicines. There is a tremendous need for more medical and related materials to treat people affected by the humanitarian emergency, as well as to immunize children, particularly against polio, typhoid, cholera and measles.

Major health concerns are cleaning drinking water and treating the injured. Fever, diarrhea, respiratory infections and skin diseases are spreading among victims of the worst flooding. The United Nations has confirmed at least one case of cholera in flood-ravaged Swat valley of Pakistan. There is a vast majority of expecting mothers in these affected areas, so there is also a great concern for safe birthing.

UNICEF says that 6 million children have been affected by the floods in Pakistan with some 2.7 million children in need of urgent, life-saving assistance.

It is Ramadan in Pakistan. I and my family have decided not to spend on this coming Eid day and to use this money for arranging the needful for the affected people.

What help is urgently needed;

The scale of the emergency means more and more medical supplies will be needed. The first important thing is to provide shelter, food, clean drinking water, health supplies, high energy biscuits, and clothing for women and children. Psychosocial support is also important.

Medical supplies include Bandages, sterilized gauzes, anti-diarrheal, IV-canulas, IV- giving sets, Ringer Lactate infusions, Anti-malarial, anti-pyretics, analgesics, antibiotics, skin preparations, and eye preparations. Vaccines are needed urgently

Sterilized gloves, sterilized cord clamps, sterilized naval cord cutters, anti-septic, soaps, plastic sheets are also needed for safe birthing.

Donations can be sent directly to Dr Butt drmanzoor@ymail.com , or to MEJB at admin@mediworld.com.au .