Disease outbreaks pose new risks to victims of Pakistan's worst floods in decades, aid agencies said on Friday, potentially hindering already complicated relief efforts.
The floods, triggered by torrential monsoon downpours, have engulfed Pakistan's Indus river basin, killing more than 1,600 people, forcing two million from their homes and disrupting the lives of about 14 million people, or 8% of the population.
Although waters have receded in some areas, fresh downpours could bring more destruction, and a health crisis would tax aid agencies already facing huge logistical challenges.
The United Nations is increasingly concerned about water-borne diseases. There have been 36,000 suspected cases of potentially fatal acute watery diarrhoea reported so far.
"This is a growing concern. Therefore we are responding with all kinds of preventative as well as curative medication... for outbreaks," said Maurizio Giuliano, the UN humanitarian operation spokesperson told Reuters.
Floods have roared down from the northwest to the Punjab agricultural heartland to southern Sindh province.
The deluge, which began two weeks ago, has caused extensive damage to the country's main crops. The United Nations appealed for $459 million in emergency aid and warned of a wave of deaths if help didn't arrive soon.
Increasing desperation could lead to social unrest and pressure on the government, already on the defensive after being criticised for its perceived lacklustre response, unlike the powerful military which swung into action.
"Children are dying now as we speak because of lack of access to clean drinking water," Pascal Cuttat, head of International Committee of the Red Cross Head of Delegation in Islamabad, told a news conference.
