Liaquat university hospital in jamshoro, University in Jamshoro, Pakistan

Over the past few weeks, torrential monsoon rains have broken a century-long record and dumped more than five times the 30-year average for rainfall in some provinces, killing more than 1200 people, including about 400 children.The unprecedented floods have washed away or damaged over 1.1 million houses and destroyed vital infrastructure children rely on to access essential services, such as schools and hospitals.At least 18,000 schools have been damaged or destroyed across the country due to the floods."We estimate that 16 million children are impacted and 3.4 million of these children are in need of humanitarian support," said UNICEF Pakistan Representative Abdullah Fadil at today's press briefing at the Palais des Nations in Geneva."Exacerbating this horrendous situation, many of the 72 hardest-hit districts were already amongst the most vulnerable ones in Pakistan. 40 per cent of children were already suffering from stunting before the floods hit. Many children are now at heightened risk, without a home, school, or even safe drinking water," Fadil added.According to UN agencies, the situation will only continue to deteriorate as winter is just eight weeks away in some parts of the country.There is now a high risk of water-borne, deadly diseases spreading rapidly -- diarrhoea, cholera, dengue, malaria. Without adequate sanitation, communities are increasingly having to resort to open defecation, putting them at high risk of contracting diseases."Relief and rescue operations are still extremely hard to carry out - around 160 bridges and 5,000 kilometres (3,200 miles) of roads have been destroyed or damaged, 3.5 million acres of crops affected and about 800,000 livestock lost. Yet lifesaving rescue and relief efforts are indispensable, and UNICEF is distributing humanitarian supplies in all affected provinces," said Fadil.The UNICEF country representative said they urgently need these funds and resources to allow us to continue to provide lifesaving medical equipment, essential medicines, vaccines, safe drinking water, hygiene kits, mosquito nets and delivery kits, as well as funds to ensure service outreach for delivery."We know that any emergency like this runs the risk of increasing protection risks for children, undermining the resilience and psychosocial wellbeing of children and their parents, leaving many experiencing distress," he said.The UNICEF official said children are exposed to a wide range of new flood-related physical risks and hazards, including from damaged buildings, drowning in flood waters and snake.( With inputs from ANI )Disclaimer: This post has been auto-published from an agency feed without any modifications to the text and has not been reviewed by an editor

Liaquat University Hospital In JamshoroFOLLOW

Liaquat university hospital in jamshoro, Latest News

Dubbed as 'Blue Tigresses', the Indian women's national football team arrived in the Nepalese capital on Saturday for the SAFF Women's Championship which starts next week. ...

Pakistan human rights minister Riaz Hussain Pirzada on Friday said that the Ahmadi minority community in the country is being subjected to grave human rights violations and because of the deep fear instilled in them no one even dares to mention the n ...

Islamabad, Sep 3 Pakistan is currently reeling from the biggest climate tragedy in recent history of the world, ... ...

Islamabad, Sep 3 The death toll in Pakistan's devastating flooding has increased to 1,265 as the cash-strapped country ... ...

Pakistan cricket team registered their biggest victory by runs in T20I cricket on Friday. The world number three team ... ...

The United Nations on Friday expressed concern over the worsening flood situation in Pakistan as it will threaten the food supply to crisis-ridden Afghanistan. ...

Amid rising cases of blasphemy in Pakistan, one security personnel was sent to judicial remand in Battagram district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the charges of making anti-Islamic remarks during an altercation with employees of the district police offic ...

Over the past few weeks, torrential monsoon rains have broken a century-long record and dumped more than five times the 30-year average for rainfall in some provinces, killing more than 1200 people, including about 400 children. ...