The emergency ward of a major government hospital in the small town of Sefwan in southern Pakistan is overwhelmed.
A recent visit by Reuters saw hundreds of people crammed into rooms and corridors, desperate for treatment for malaria and other diseases that have spread rapidly after the worst floods in decades. did.
In the midst of being crushed, Naveed Ahmed, a young doctor in the Emergency Response Department of the Abdullah Shah Institute of Health Sciences, is surrounded by five or six people trying to get his attention.
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The 30-year-old said expanded ambulance services struggled to deal with thousands of patients arriving from miles away after his home was flooded during heavy rains in August and September. I keep my cool because I do.
Sipping tea in the hospital cafeteria during a brief break, Ahmed told Reuters with a smile.
“But it is the prayers of these patients that keep us going.”
Ahmed is at the forefront of the fight against disease and death in southern Pakistan, where floodwaters have cut hundreds of towns and villages apart. The Great Flood affected about 33 million people in a country of 220 million people.
Most of the estimated 300 to 400 patients who come to his clinic each morning suffer from malaria and diarrhea, but Ahmed fears other illnesses will become more common as winter approaches.
“We hope that the people displaced by the floods will be able to return to their homes before winter. he said.
Hundreds of thousands of displaced Pakistanis live in government camps set up to house them or simply live in the open.
The stagnant floods, which span hundreds of square kilometers and can take two to six months to recede in some places, have already led to widespread cases of skin and eye infections, diarrhea, malaria, typhoid and dengue fever. .
The crisis has hit Pakistan at a particularly bad time. With their economies at stake from loans from the International Monetary Fund, they do not have the resources to deal with the long-term effects of flooding.
Nearly 1,700 people died in floods from heavy monsoon rains and melting glaciers. Pakistan estimates the damage at her $30 billion, and the government and UN blame climate change for the catastrophe.
Officials said more than 340 people died from diseases caused by the floods.
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“Second Disaster”
There have been 17,285 confirmed cases of malaria since 1 July, according to the health department in Sindh province, the worst affected area.
Anticipating the risk of disease outbreaks after the flood rescue and relief phase, the Sindh government is looking to temporarily employ more than 5,000 health professionals in the most at-risk areas.
“Given the sheer burden of disease following the unprecedented rains and floods, human resources are in short supply,” Qasim Soumro, a provincial lawmaker and parliamentary health secretary of the Sindh government, told Reuters. Told.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has expressed concern about an impending “second plague” of water-borne diseases, particularly in Sindh province, which is spreading across the country.
On the Sehwan ward, a young man with a high fever was having a seizure in a bed outside the main emergency room. His mother ran to Ahmed, who was attending to the patient, and asked a male nurse to apply a cold pad to his forehead.
The air was damp and heavy, and there was not enough air conditioning to cool down the crowded corridors lined with beds. The ward was full, with several patients sleeping on a few beds.
Ahmed, who graduated from a university in China, described the pressure he and other medical personnel were under.
“With such an influx of patients, we cannot wait for test results for each patient to begin treatment,” he said, adding that he would begin administering malaria drugs as soon as he saw any symptoms.
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The Sefang Institute serves people in neighboring towns and districts, including those living in the camp, while the water recedes and rebuilding begins.
Jagan Shahani’s daughter passed out after developing a fever about a week ago. He used a boat to get out of the flooded village of Bajala and parked on a nearby road going to Sewan.
“The doctor said she had malaria,” he said late last week. Please,” added Shahani, whose 15-year-old daughter Hamida is now recovering.
On the outskirts of town, hundreds of displaced people lined up for food distributed in Lalubagh. This is a tented settlement where displaced families served tea and breakfast by the fireplace.
The Indus Highway passing through Cefang is dotted with tented camps for displaced persons.
Some are starting to return to well-watered areas, but not everyone is so lucky.
“No one can help me but Allah. I pray to Allah that the waters in my village will recede and I can return to my home,” Maddad Ali Bozdar said.
Bozdar, 52, is from Bubak, a town on the northeastern shore of Lake Manchar. Speaking on Friday, he said his village is still under 10 to 12 feet (3 to 4 meters) of water. He expected to be able to return in about two months.