Health worker Nizam ud din (above) vaccinates a baby in a partly submerged village. ©WHODonors are responding to WHO’s appeal for Pakistan’s flood crisis with contributions and pledges – support urgently needed to confront the health consequences of the country’s still-unfolding disaster.Since the appeal’s launch on 5 October, WHO has received nearly 20 percent of the US$ 81.5 million needed to pay for health care for the sick and injured, deliver medicines and supplies, assess the risk of outbreaks, determine health needs and more.“Although the waters have stopped rising, the danger is only increasing,” WHO Director-General Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said in a briefing early this month. “More than 1500 lives were lost in the floods, but many more could be lost to disease in the coming weeks without a massive and urgent international response.”Contributions to the Pakistan appeal have come from Norway, the United Nations Central Emergency Response Fund (CERF), and WHO’s Contingency Fund for Emergencies – a pool provided by 16 Member States.
Others have pledged to donate, including Germany, which has announced contributions totalling US$ 7 million.Contributions are being used to treat severely malnourished children, halt outbreaks of malaria, cholera and hepatitis, restart disrupted immunization programs, repair ruined health centres – which number in the thousands –and carry out other health-related activities.Watch the video: How is WHO supporting people affected by the floods in Pakistan?Teams brave flooded terrain to get vaccinations to childrenVaccinators in Sindh province (above) are navigating flooded villages and crossing broken bridges as disease outbreaks multiply. ©WHOA WHO-led response in Singh province