Households residing in flood-affected areas have ‘no various however to drink and use probably disease-ridden water’, UNICEF says.

About six months after catastrophic floods in Pakistan, greater than 10 million individuals nonetheless lack entry to secure consuming water in areas affected by the record-breaking rains, in line with a United Nations report.

Households residing in flood-hit areas have “no various however to drink and use probably disease-ridden water”, the UN kids’s company, or UNICEF, stated within the report on Tuesday.

“Each day, hundreds of thousands of women and boys in Pakistan are combating a shedding battle towards preventable waterborne illnesses and the consequential malnutrition,” stated Abdullah Fadil, UNICEF’s consultant in Pakistan.

Pakistan’s worst floods started in June on account of heavy rains. They killed at the very least 1,739 individuals, together with 647 kids, and affected 33 million individuals.

At their peak, the floods – attributable to a “monsoon on steroids”, as described by UN chief Antonio Guterres – submerged greater than one-third of the nation.

Based on UNICEF’s report, a majority of the nation’s inhabitants didn’t have entry to wash consuming water even earlier than the floods. The catastrophe then brought about injury to a lot of the water programs in affected areas and compelled greater than 5.4 million individuals, together with 2.5 million kids to “solely depend on contaminated water from ponds and wells”.

“Solely 36 % of the nation’s water was thought of secure for consumption regardless of the nation’s consuming water provide system protecting 92 per cent of the inhabitants,” the report stated.

6 months after the floods ravaged Pakistan, 9.6 million kids nonetheless want lifesaving help. We want the continued help of our donors to offer secure consuming water, construct bogs and ship very important sanitation companies to those kids and households who want them essentially the most. pic.twitter.com/Yfi90CxYgO

— UNICEF Pakistan (@UNICEF_Pakistan) March 21, 2023

The report highlighted the dire state of affairs confronted by households who reside  near our bodies of stagnant water shaped after the flooding, making them susceptible to waterborne illnesses corresponding to cholera, diarrhoea, dengue and malaria. These illnesses forestall kids from getting the very important vitamins they want and plunges them right into a “a vicious cycle of malnutrition and an infection”.

UNICEF stated malnutrition is related to half of all youngster deaths in Pakistan. Greater than 1.5 million girls and boys are already severely malnourished, it stated, and people numbers are anticipated to rise within the absence of secure water and correct sanitation.

“Open defecation has elevated by greater than 14 % within the flood-affected areas,” the report stated. “The dearth of correct bogs is disproportionally affecting kids, adolescent women and girls who’re at added threat of disgrace and hurt when defecating outside.”

The company stated lower than half of its $173m attraction for support has been met thus far.

Pakistan was hit by monetary losses of at the very least $30bn because of the floods. In January, the nation managed to safe greater than $10bn in pledges from the worldwide group to rebuild itself.

However it’s also within the midst of financial turmoil because it waits for $1.1bn from the Worldwide Financial Fund.

“We want the continued help of our donors to offer secure water, construct bogs and ship very important sanitation companies to those kids and households who want them essentially the most,” Fadil stated.