Earlier Tuesday, a Pakistani Red Crescent official told CNN that
nearly 2.5 million people had been affected by the floods, which began
last week.
As the water recedes, more devastation has been revealed as previously
isolated areas have become more accessible, Medecins Sans Frontieres
said in a statement. But more rain predicted for coming days could
cause renewed problems, said the group, also known as Doctors Without
Borders.
Limited access to clean water and poor hygienic conditions have raised
the threat of widespread acute respiratory infections, diarrhea and
skin infections, said the doctors' group, which is supporting health
units in Mandrakhel, Wadpaga, and Gulbela in the Peshawar district,
and the Paddi Hospital in the Nowshera district.
Collapsed bridges meant the MSF teams were unable to reach the badly
hit North Swat region. A case of cholera has been confirmed in Swat,
it said.
The flooding -- caused by torrential monsoon rains -- may have killed
as many as 1,500 people, a government official told reporters.
Floodwaters washed out many roads, highways and bridges, isolating a
number of communities."This is the key issue for the next day, to find
[a] solution to access the population in remote valleys," Jean-Marc
Favre of the International Committee for the Red Cross told CNN
Tuesday.
About 46 of Pakistan's 135 districts have been affected, said the
World Health Organization, which is coordinating the health response.
At least 39 health facilities and the medications they contained have
been destroyed, resulting in a need for more medical and related
materials, it said.
By the end of Monday, mobile teams and fixed health facilities had
treated more than 15,000 patients, many of whom were suffering from
diarrhea, WHO said.
Displaced people -- including thousands of Afghan refugees -- were
crammed into public buildings and schools, officials said.
"Those who survived these punishing floods are still at grave risk.
They are exposed and vulnerable and urgently need our help," U.N. High
Commissioner for Refugees Antonio Guterres said. "The Pakistani people
of this region have been serving as the generous hosts of more than a
million Afghan refugees. Now is the time for the international
community to demonstrate the same kind of solidarity with them."
Pakistani authorities also are confronting another key issue: making
sure flood-ravaged areas do not become easy targets for a Taliban
resurgence.
Waterborne diseases also are a "serious" threat, Favre said.
"Our doctors are reporting many cases of respiratory illness and
diarrhea," said Annie Foster, Save the Children's associate vice
president for humanitarian response. "If these illnesses are not
treated promptly, they can be life-threatening to babies and young
children."
Some residents have said rescue and relief efforts are not moving
quickly enough.
The U.N. World Food Programme said Monday that nearly 980,000 people
had lost their homes or been displaced in four districts -- Nowshera,
Charsadda, Mardan and Peshawar.
About 80,000 homes were destroyed in the four districts, and another
50,000 were damaged, it said. Nowshera district had the highest number
of affected people, more than 650,000, while Charsadda suffered
serious damage, losing all its crops, it said.
The U.N.'s refugee commission said it aimed to reach 250,000 of the
country's most vulnerable with non-food items like tents, blankets,
buckets, plastic sheets and kitchen sets. The agency said it had
delivered 10,000 tents to local authorities in Baluchistan and Khyber
Pakhtunkhwa and plans to procure 20,000 more tents from suppliers in
Pakistan.
Rain began falling again Tuesday in Pakistan, where isolated areas
were expected to get as much as 25 to 75 millimeters (1 to 3 inches)
by Thursday.
Between Guddu and Sukkur, the Pakistan Meteorological Department is
expecting the Indus River to rise to extreme levels. The water in the
Indus, Pakistan's longest and most important river, has tripled since
week's rainfall.
Floodwater will not reach the Arabian Sea until around August 11.
Monsoon rains in the region typically lasts through mid-September.
Many governments and non-profit organizations, including the United
States, the United Nations and the European Commission, have pledged
aid.
Read why the United States sees its aid role in Pakistan as important
President Asif Ali Zardari has said all available resources would be
used to help those stranded by the water, the state-run news agency
reported.
