Dikhyaa Mohanty 
Amid the devastating floods in Pakistan, United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has warned that more than three million children are facing health risks.
According to the official reports, it stated: “Torrential monsoon rains have triggered the most severe flooding in Pakistan’s recent history, washing away villages and leaving more than three million children in need of humanitarian assistance and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning and malnutrition.”
It further said that at least 33 million people, of which approximately 16 million are children, have been affected by this year’s heavy monsoon rains in Pakistan, bringing devastating rains, floods and landslides.
The report further added that over 350 children have lost their lives and 1,600 others were injured. Over 287,000 houses have been fully, and 662,000 partially, destroyed. Some major rivers have breached their banks and dams overflowed, destroying homes, farms and critical infrastructure including roads, bridges, schools, hospitals and public health facilities.
Apart from the casualties, the people in flood-hit areas are resorting to open defecation and drinking unsafe water as 30 per cent of water systems are estimated to have been damaged, further increasing the risk of disease outbreaks, Geo News reported.
UNICEF underscored that a potential outbreak of diarrhoea and other water-borne diseases, respiratory infection, and skin diseases poses a huge risk to children, 40 per cent of whom already suffered from stunting, caused by chronic undernutrition before the floods hit. It also drew attention towards the damage incurred to the education infrastructure which further jeopardised the children’s access to education. It said that 17,566 schools have reportedly been damaged.
