Pakistan facing dengue outbreak, humanitarian aid shortages for flood victims

Oct 4 2011

"More than 12,000 have been infected and 125 people have died over the past two months in Pakistan after coming down with dengue fever, a health department spokesman said Friday," CNN reports (Habib, 10/1). Citing the same numbers, WHO spokesperson Tarek Jasarevic said the agency is providing support for "case management, community mobilization, vector control and public awareness campaigns," according to the U.N. News Centre. "Last year, 11,024 confirmed cases of dengue fever and 40 deaths were reported in Pakistan, but this year the number of cases has climbed to 12,466," the news service writes (9/30).

Also in Pakistan, the U.N. on Friday "warned ... that humanitarian agencies are running out of resources to assist those affected by floods in southern Pakistan, even as the need for clean water, food, shelter and medical services increase among the more than five million people in affected communities," the U.N. News Centre reports. The U.N. and its partners have provided emergency shelter to 314,500 households, medical care for more than 1.6 million people, food aid for more than 413,000 people, and aim to double their support and provide access to clean drinking water for up to 400,000 more people in the coming weeks, the news service notes (9/30).