Pakistan: Providing health care after the floods

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In the summer of 2022, Pakistan was hit by severe floods. A third of the country was under water, more than 1,700 people lost their lives in the floods. Around 20 million people are still in urgent need of humanitarian aid.

Help is currently promoting disaster preparedness: we are improving access to health and drinking water supplies and training emergency teams to prepare their communities for disasters.

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Ein Mann blickt auf ein überschwemmtes Dorf in Pakistan

“The scale of this disaster is much bigger than the super flood of 2010. It is the biggest flood in living memory. Our resources are extremely scarce and people's vulnerability and susceptibility is very high." - Sherry Rehman, Climate Change Minister in Pakistan
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What is the situation like in Pakistan?

Überschwemmte Straße — 3.400 kilometres of roads are flooded.

More than 1,700 dead in floods

Between June and October 2022, more than 1,700 people lost their lives in Pakistan due to monsoon-related floods.

A third of the country was under water: rivers burst their banks, more than a million buildings were severely damaged and much of the infrastructure was completely destroyed. Numerous families lost their homes and livelihoods. The water remained for weeks and became an ideal breeding ground for malaria mosquitoes.

Over 33 million people were affected by the flood disaster, around 20 million of whom are still dependent on humanitarian aid today.

Fear is part of daily life

Pakistan is one of the countries most affected by climate change in the world. Natural disasters such as earthquakes and flooding are occurring more frequently – especially during the monsoon season. The rural population is neither prepared nor equipped to help themselves in the event of a disaster. The major floods in 2010 demonstrated this very clearly. They affected 20 million people, and over 1.8 million houses were damaged.

Poverty in Pakistan has many different faces: the distribution of income, health care and education is extremely unequal. Even though new legislation expressly increases protection for women, many women are disadvantaged from birth. The military also continues to play an important role in the state and in society. But the middle classes have shown increasing civil society engagement in recent years.

How is Help providing support in Pakistan?

Verteilung von Hilfsgütern an pakistanische Familien — Help distributes aid packages with food and mosquito nets.

Fast and effective aid

In cooperation with our long-standing local partner CAMP, we immediately initiated emergency relief measures after Pakistan declared a state of emergency. Thanks to our experience from past flood disasters and our local network, we are able to provide aid quickly and effectively.

Immediately after the state of emergency was declared, we provided affected families in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region with much-needed supplies such as food and mosquito nets to help stem the spread of diseases such as malaria and dengue fever.

Currently, our focus is on disaster preparedness: we are improving access to healthcare by sending mobile clinics, promoting drinking water supplies and raising awareness of hygiene practices to prevent the spread of disease. We are also training emergency response teams in 50 communities to help people better respond to future disasters.

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Disaster Preparedness in Pakistan — In the event of a disaster, our participants learn rescue from the water.

Prepared for emergencies

Proper preparation for a natural disaster is crucial for survival. That is why Help is involved in disaster preparedness worldwide. In the Pakistani province of Punjab, we provided training on the correct behaviour in the event of floods, earthquakes and fires. We showed how to recognise risks at an early stage and what needs to be taken into account when communicating, evacuating and rescuing in an emergency. The response groups we trained are networked with each other and with official agencies. Evacuation plans, escape routes and assembly points were worked out together.

Minds for the future

Our training programme for tomorrow's leaders addressed and helped develop the skills of our young participants. Critical thinking and practical training in communication, decision-making and project planning were as much a part of the training as direct placement with companies and authorities. Our graduates were thus given the chance to earn a secure income and are now in a position to help shape the future of Pakistan.

Donors and partners: ADH (Aktion Deutschland Hilft), CAMP

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Facts and Figures

Figures about Pakistan

33 million people are affected by the 2022 floods.
There are still 20.6 million people in urgent need of help.
More than 1,700 people lost their lives in the 2022 floods.
2.3 million houses were destroyed by the floods.
In an international comparison of countries most threatened by climate change, Pakistan ranks 8th (measurement period: 2000-2019).

Source: ReliefWeb, Climate Risk Index 2021

Status: 06.12.2022

Facts about our work

After the 2022 floods:

Strengthening central emergency services in 32 communities in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region.
Training 50 emergency response teams in 50 communities for disaster preparedness.
Construction or reconstruction of a total of 50 water sources: Around 25,000 people gain access to drinking water.
Treatment of around 16,000 people in our mobile clinics.
Immediately after the floods, Help provided 400 families in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa region with relief supplies.