water-borne diseases
\n ISLAMABAD
\nThe World Health Organisation (WHO) has sounded the alarm over an impending \u201csecond disaster\u201d of disease and death as concerns grow over the spread of water-borne diseases among the flood-hit people in Sindh.
\nThe warning, issued late on Saturday by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called on the nation to generously donate baby food and blankets for flood-affected people on an urgent basis.
\nIn the statement, the WHO chief also urged donors to continue to respond generously to \u201csave lives and prevent more suffering\u201d.
\nHe highlighted that the water supply was disrupted in flood-hit areas, forcing people to drink unsafe water which could cause cholera and other diseases.
\nStagnant water serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes and spreads vector-borne diseases such as malaria and dengue, he warned.
\n\u201cHealth centres have been flooded, their supplies damaged, and people have moved away from home which makes it harder for them to access their normal health services.\u201d
\nHe pointed out that health workers in the country were stretched to the limit as they did all they could do to deliver critical services amid the destruction. \u201cNearly 2,000 health facilities have been fully or partially damaged.\u201d
\nHe said the WHO had provided water purification kits and oral rehydration salts to manage diarrhoeal diseases.
\nWHO immediately released $10 million from the WHO Contingency Fund for Emergencies which enabled us to deliver essential medicines and other supplies to the country, he added.
\nHe also thanked donors for their \u201cprompt response\u201d to the United Nations\u2019 flash appeal. \u201cWe continue to assess the scale of the crisis and will issue a revised appeal shortly,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
water-borne diseases ISLAMABAD The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sounded the alarm over an impending \u201csecond disaster\u201d of disease and death as concerns grow over the spread of water-borne diseases among the flood-hit people in Sindh. The warning, issued late on Saturday by WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, comes after Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284236,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[10681,1122,1129,10682,785],"class_list":{"0":"post-284206","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-national","8":"tag-director-general","9":"tag-disaster","10":"tag-disease","11":"tag-tedros-adhanom-ghebreyesus","12":"tag-who"},"yoast_head":"\n