LAHORE:
Despite the official guarantees of a relief operation without problems, a gloomy reality lurks in the districts affected by the floods of Punjab, where health problems are increasing given the outbreak of flood -related diseases.
Although the provincial authorities highlight the rescue figures and medical camps, the evidence of the land shows overwhelmed health units, shortage of medicines and citizens that defend themselves in waters full of diseases.
Humanitarian doctors and workers say that patients suffering from diarrhea, cutaneous infections and dengue often wait hours, sometimes for days, for proper treatment. In some fields, anti-malaria drug vaccines and rage have exhausted, leaving vulnerable residents.
“We are treating dozens of patients in tents without sufficient supplies. Official holders do not match the situation here,” said a health worker in Nareowal, requesting anonymity.
Continuous floods since the end of August have displaced more than two million people in Punjab, immersed 2,000 villages and raised cultivation lands have been dragged. Thousands of rice, cotton and sugarcane acres have been destroyed, which further aggravate food insecurity.
Further: Did India deliberately flood Pakistan?
The provincial government claims to have rescued almost 1.9 million people, established more than 1,000 relief camps and displayed mobile health units. But the field reports indicate that many villages remain cut, with relief measures that reach them only sporadically.
In Hafizabad and Kasur, the locals complain that they have not received a constant supply of clean water or medical assistance.
Health records show more than 15,400 cases of dengue, diarrhea, malaria and skin diseases in Punjab in the last month.
Lahore only reported more than 9,000 patients in the last 24 hours. According to the Punjab Health Department, since January, the province has registered 310 cases of dengue, 79 of them in Lahore. The crisis extends beyond vector -transmitted diseases: 99 snake bits and 167 cases of dog bites have also been reported.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned about the “serious risks” of epidemic outbreaks, emphasizing the urgent need for clean water, sanitation and an uninterrupted supply of medicines. Help groups confirm that the conditions in several fields remain unhealthy, with stagnant flood breeding mosquitoes and increasing the probability of cholera and dysentery.
Read more: The worst flooding of the monsoon in decades leave millions displaced in Pakistan
However, Punjab Minister of Health, Khawaja Imran Nazir, insists that the government is prepared. He said that medical equipment is on a 24 -hour alert, “wheel clinics” are working, and all districts have received instructions to exist emergency medications. Prime Minister Maryam Nawaz Sharif is personally supervising the aid operations, with army units mobilized in multiple districts, says the provincial government.
Critics argue that the answer remains more reactive than preventive. “The State knew that strong rains were there, but the defenses of floods and public health systems were not strengthened over time,” said an environmental analyst in Lahore. “Now we are seeing that avoidable diseases extend while officials fight for damage control.”
Experts also indicate climate change as a worsening factor. Punjab has received 26% more rain this Monzón season compared to last year, according to the Department of Meteorology, exposing the weaknesses in infrastructure and planning.
As the waters stagnate and prevail health problems, the question is whether help operations can follow the rhythm of the crisis scale. For now, officials promise that “no patient will be not treated”, but the testimonies of survivors of flooding areas in Punjab tell a much more disturbing story of a public health disaster that is won under the surface.
