Pakistan floods continue to affect over 33 million people: UN official

The aftermath of Pakistan's devastating floods is continuing to impact over 33 million people, including Afghan refugees, a UN official said here.

Indrika Ratwatte, director of the Regional Bureau for Asia and the Pacific at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR), told a press briefing in Geneva on Tuesday that Pakistan had been hosting millions of Afghan refugees for decades and the international community ought to ramp up its support without delay, reports Xinhua news agency.

He said that the UNHCR had already completed four airlifts to Pakistan, with at least six more scheduled in the coming days.

Official figures released on Tuesday show that the death toll the devastating monsoon rains and floods that started in mid-June has risen to 1,325 with 12,703 injuries.

Tarik Jasarevic, spokesperson for the World Health Organization (WHO), told journalists on Tuesday that over 1,460 health facilities in Pakistan had been affected by the floods, of which 432 were fully damaged and 1,028 partially damaged.

The stocks of emergency medicines, supplies and minor surgical items for dealing with trauma patients were limited, he said,

The WHO spokesperson added that there was an urgent need to scale up disease surveillance, restore the damaged health facilities, ensure sufficient medicine and health product supplies, and provide mental health and psychosocial support to the affected communities.

--IANS

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