CARE is supporting health teams, mobile clinics and the distribution of emergency supplies in the wake of flooding that has taken hundreds of lives in Pakistan and devastated wide swathes of the country.
The extent of the damage still isn’t known as historic monsoon rains have swept away dozens of bridges, hundreds of roads and thousands of homes making access to those affected extremely difficulty.
CARE has partners already operating in Swat, Charsaddah, Peshawar, Rajanpur, DG Khan and most affected districts of Balochistan who have completed rapid assessment in these districts. Working through a local partner, CARE has conducted eight mobile health clinics in the Swat Valley with a team of four doctors and two women health visitors. These are in addition to the four Basic Health Units (BHUs) operating in Behrain, Tirat, Mayedmn and Chail where CARE is providing primary health services in curative and preventive areas.
The mobile clinics and BHU’s will continue for at least the next four months. CARE also is transporting emergency stockpiles of tents, shawls, mosquito nets, plastic floor mats, family hygiene kits and kitchen sets in the Swat, Charsaddah and Nowshera districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KPK). Initial distributions are expected to reach 5,200 people.
“The devastation has widely affected the KPK province and we are receiving information about the loss of life and property caused by the floods from all over the province”, said Waleed Rauf, CARE’s country director in Pakistan. “Thousands of survivors are now in need of shelter and tents and the basic health facilities as there is a possibility of an outbreak of water borne diseases in some affected areas. Therefore CARE is currently focusing on providing these.” The flood waters have also wiped out crops, killed livestock and destroyed business throughout the affected districts.
CARE has developed an initial plan to reach about 100,000 people with both short term immediate relief and long term livelihood recovery.
Emergency relief will take priority in the immediate future. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, where the army is evacuating people from their villages, some areas are only accessible by helicopter or boat.
“We are working with the BHU’s mainly in Mayedmn, Behrain and Tirat and we have send out an outreach team of doctors and staff to the areas where access through road is not possible” Rauf said.
CARE re-established operations in Pakistan in June 2005, after being out of the country for more than 25 years. CARE places special emphasis on gender issues and building the capacity of local grassroots organizations in Pakistan, working to improve education and livelihoods as well as maternal and childhood health. CARE also has responded to previous emergencies in Pakistan, including Cyclone Yemyin in 2007 and the South Asia earthquake of 2005.
