Women, Children Affected Most by Pakistan's Floods
2022-09-20
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1Severe flooding in Pakistan has left tens of thousands of people sick with infectious and water-borne diseases.
2Women and children in rural areas are especially vulnerable to such diseases, experts say.
3Flood waters have begun to recede, or move away.
4But water may remain in places for two to six months.
5Stagnant water presents a serious risk to people living in the affected areas.
6Stagnant means water that is not flowing.
7Diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and skin problems are spreading quickly.
8That information comes from a new report by the government of Pakistan's southern Sindh province.
9Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Shrif recently spoke at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Uzebekistan.
10He said, "Stagnant water is giving rise to the water-borne diseases. Children getting malaria and diarrhea ... all kinds of diseases...millions of people are living under open sky."
11The floods have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
12Those people are now in desperate need of food, shelter, clean drinking water, toilets and medicine.
13The flooding has affected 33 million people, 16 million of which are children.
14Over 3 million of those children need immediate life-saving support, the United Nations refugee agency says.
15Since July 1, temporary medical centers set up in the flooded region have treated 2.3 million people.
16There have been 1,508 deaths so far, including 536 children and 308 women, according to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority.
17Abdullah Fadil is a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Pakistan.
18He said in a statement, "I have been in the flood-affected areas for the past two days. The situation for families is beyond bleak, and the stories I heard paint a desperate picture."
19Fadil confirmed that he had seen malnourished children and mothers with the diseases like diarrhea and malaria.
20The flooding is considered a once-in-a-century event.
21It was likely made more severe by climate change, scientists said last week.
22Extreme seasonal rains in the southern areas of Pakistan, combined with glacial melt caused by climate change in the northern areas, created the massive flooding.
23Pakistan's monsoon season this year started earlier than usual and ended later than usual.
24The country received 391 millimeters of rain during the monsoon period.
25That is 190 percent more than the 30-year average.
26I'm Faith Pirlo.
1Severe flooding in Pakistan has left tens of thousands of people sick with infectious and water-borne diseases. Women and children in rural areas are especially vulnerable to such diseases, experts say. 2Flood waters have begun to recede, or move away. But water may remain in places for two to six months. Stagnant water presents a serious risk to people living in the affected areas. Stagnant means water that is not flowing. 3Diseases such as malaria, dengue fever and skin problems are spreading quickly. That information comes from a new report by the government of Pakistan's southern Sindh province. 4Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Shrif recently spoke at a Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) meeting in Uzebekistan. He said, "Stagnant water is giving rise to the water-borne diseases. Children getting malaria and diarrhea ... all kinds of diseases...millions of people are living under open sky." 5The floods have forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes. Those people are now in desperate need of food, shelter, clean drinking water, toilets and medicine. 6The flooding has affected 33 million people, 16 million of which are children. Over 3 million of those children need immediate life-saving support, the United Nations refugee agency says. 7Since July 1, temporary medical centers set up in the flooded region have treated 2.3 million people. 8There have been 1,508 deaths so far, including 536 children and 308 women, according to Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority. 9Abdullah Fadil is a United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF) Representative in Pakistan. He said in a statement, "I have been in the flood-affected areas for the past two days. The situation for families is beyond bleak, and the stories I heard paint a desperate picture." 10Fadil confirmed that he had seen malnourished children and mothers with the diseases like diarrhea and malaria. 11The flooding is considered a once-in-a-century event. It was likely made more severe by climate change, scientists said last week. 12Extreme seasonal rains in the southern areas of Pakistan, combined with glacial melt caused by climate change in the northern areas, created the massive flooding. 13Pakistan's monsoon season this year started earlier than usual and ended later than usual. The country received 391 millimeters of rain during the monsoon period. That is 190 percent more than the 30-year average. 14I'm Faith Pirlo. 15Syed Raza Hassan and Asif Shahzad wrote this article for Reuters. Faith Pirlo adapted it for Learning English. 16______________________________________________________________________ 17Words in This Story 18vulnerable - adj. able to be hurt or at risk of being harmed 19malnourished - adj. not eating enough food or not eating enough healthy food; poorly nourished 20toilet - n. a large bowl attached to a pipe that is used for getting rid of bodily waste and then flushed with water 21diarrhea - an illness that causes you to pass waste from your body very frequently and in liquid rather than solid form 22glacial - adj. related to glaciers: frozen rivers of ice on mountains and in Arctic areas 23bleak -adj. not hopeful or encouraging 24monsoon- n. the rainy season in South and Southeast Asia 25_____________________________________________________________________ 26We want to hear from you. We have a new comment system. Here is how it works: 27Each time you return to comment on the Learning English site, you can use your account and see your comments and replies to them. Our comment policy is here.