Disease warning for 3.5 million children in Pakistan

The United Nations warned Monday that up to 3.5 million children were at risk from water-borne diseases in Pakistan's floods and said it was bracing for thousands of potential cholera cases. Fresh rains threaten further anguish for millions of people that have been affected by the country's worst floods in 80 years.

Reuters

Described as the worst humanitarian crisis in the world today, the three-week disaster has affected 20 million people, and has destroyed crops, infrastructure, towns and villages, according to the Pakistani government.

A day after UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged the world to speed up aid for flood-ravaged Pakistan, aid agencies say they are struggling to get essential funds for the disaster's millions of victims.

Some aid groups have pointed to the country's 'image deficit', blaming perceived links with the Taliban and terrorism.

In France, the Red Cross says its Pakistan appeal has so far been met with a paltry response compared to recent natural disasters, such as the Haiti earthquake.

The United Nations has launched an aid appeal for 360 million euros, but charities say the response has been sluggish and flood survivors on the ground have lashed out against the weak civilian government for failing to help.

Maurizio Giuliano, spokesman for the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), feared that Pakistan was on the brink of a "second wave of death" unless more donor funds materialised.

"Up to 3.5 million children are at high risk of deadly water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea-related, such as watery diarrhoea and dysentery," he said, estimating the total number at risk from such diseases at six million.

Typhoid, hepatitis A and E are also concerns, he said.

 "We fear we're getting close to the start of seeing a second wave of death if not enough money comes through, due to water-borne diseases along with lack of clean water and food shortages," he said.

Cholera is endemic in Pakistan and the risk of outbreaks increases with flooding, but the government has so far confirmed no cases publicly.

The United Nations estimates that 1,600 people have died in the floods, while the government in Islamabad has confirmed 1,384 deaths.

The floods have sparked rage against the government in the nuclear-armed country on the frontline of the US-led fight against Al-Qaeda, where the military is locked in battles with homegrown Taliban in the northwest.

At the weekend, UN General-Secretary Ban Ki-moon became the first world leader to
visit the flood-affected areas, saying he would never forget the "heart-wrenching" scenes of destruction and suffering that he had witnessed.

"I'm here to urge the world to step up their generous support for Pakistan," he told a news conference with Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari.