One year after the flood of the century devastated Pakistan, the country is once again struggling with heavy flooding. More than 200 people have died; many families have lost everything and been displaced – some for the second time in little over a year. More than five million people have been affected and nearly a million houses have been destroyed, the United Nations reports.

Malteser International is responding to the crisis by continuing to provide assistance to the health authorities in its project regions. On the border between the provinces of Punjab and Sindh, the Malteser International teams are active in Dengue fever prevention, providing blood tests so the disease can be quickly diagnosed, conducting awareness campaigns, among other activities. In Kohistan, in the mountainous north, heavy rains preceding the floods have raised the threat of a massive epidemic of acute watery diarrhoea. Malteser International has sent more doctors to the region and is operating a mobile treatment unit with ten beds.

Strengthening disaster prevention in Pakistan

The current floods in Pakistan make clear, once again, the urgent need for prevention measures to prepare the local population and authorities for the risk of floods and earthquakes – so that these natural occurrences do not become disasters with many dead, injured or ill. For this reason, Malteser International has started two new disaster preparedness projects in the districts of Swat and Kohistan in northern Pakistan. The projects, funded by the German Federal Foreign Office and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development, build up on the organisation’s experience from similar past projects at the community level.