RAWALPINDI, Nov 21 (APP): Dr Hina Shan, Assistant Professor Department of Public Health National University of Medical Sciences(NUMS) highlighted the ravages of August deluge on health facilities in the aftermath of the worst floods in Pakistan during her participation in a podcast series broadcasted by COLUMBIA, Mailman School of Public Health, Global Consortium On Climate And Health Education (GCCHE) in its Climate Clinic here on Monday.
She said women and children were especially afflicted with multiple diseases in absence of healthcare facilities in some areas due to widespread devastation across Pakistan. Dr Hina pleaded to world professionals to understand the link between public health and Nature for mustering a collective response to deal with climate change.
An in-depth discussion regarding catastrophic flooding, climate crisis and the impediments from a Public Health perspective in Pakistan was broadcasted by Columbia University.
NUMS joined the GCCHE in October 2022 which is a platform to organize, empower, and amplify the voice of health professionals to convey how climate change is harming our health and how climate solutions will improve it. GCCHE is a global network of health professional institutions and associations to train health professionals in climate and planetary health.
Dr Hina said around 33 million people were affected in more than 80 districts of Pakistan but the destruction in Sindh and Balochistan provinces was unprecedented. The river Indus wrought havoc alongside its banks destroying homes, crops and livestock.
Quoting National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), she said, more than 7.6 million homes were destroyed while over 5.7 million people were forced to take shelter in the relief camps. “So the situation is very grim and it is a tragic reality” she added. The flood destroyed at least 1500 health facilities, thousands of kms of roads, bridges and railway tracks suspending links between the cities which made it difficult to access the affected areas.
Dr Hina said there was “definitely” a link between the extreme weather and climate change and Pakistan though contributing less than 1 per cent to greenhouse gas emissions worldwide, it was the 8th worst-hit country as a result of climate change. She said U.N Secretary-General Antonio Guterres during his visit to Pakistan said that “it is a question of justice, Pakistan is paying the price of something that was created by others.”
She said as per the meteorological department statement, August was the wettest month in Pakistan since 1951, adding South Asia was being labelled as the “climate hotspot” owing to rising temperatures across the globe.
She said it was the biggest challenge for Pakistan to restore the healthcare system as the devastating flood had created different issues.
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