ISLAMABAD: The government of Pakistan in collaboration with World Health Organization (WHO) is taking every step for cholera eradication as it has remained a notifiable endemic disease in Pakistan with the major burden of cases being reported from densely-populated urban areas.
This was stated by Nadeem Mahbub, federal secretary Ministry of National Health Services and Regulations while chairing a high-level meeting, here on Thursday.
Mahbub said that considering the urgency and threat of cholera outbreaks, the Health Ministry in coordination with the WHO has proactively developed a cholera control strategy draft which was further endorsed by provincial governments through mutual consensus.
He said that multiple coordination meetings for cholera control has been organised with various developmental partners as well as Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) sector and Pakistan compiled the cholera data by disease surveillance system and through mutual coordination between provinces and partners.
The cholera report was shared with Global Task Force on Cholera Control as well as with the WHO in mid of June 2024, which was fully endorsed by the GTFCC members and WHO. The government of Pakistan as well as provincial governments are vigilant about the importance of cholera in Pakistan and have taken all the required measures for its control.
He said that to check cholera, the government has taken a number of steps including installation of new gene sequencing techniques for its early detection in addition to rapid diagnostic testing kits availability has been applied efficiently in the National Institute of Health (NIH).
Researchers are trained nationally and internationally in prompt identification and control of cholera disease.
It is the tireless efforts of the Ministry of NHSRC which has led to control of cholera within the country with nominal cases reported in the current year in comparison to previous years, Mahbub said.
Meanwhile, the UNICEF has called upon the relevant authorities for urgent investment in education sector of Sindh province, saying that education is on hold for 230,000 children in Sindh which was worst-hit province of 2022 flooding.
The UNICEF said that the children are bearing the brunt of extreme weather in Sindh with 230,000 students affected by school closures due to devastating monsoon floods that have swept through the southern part of the country.
Giving the breakup, UNICEF said that over 1,300 schools are damaged, 228 of which are fully destroyed.
Over 450 schools are not functioning due to standing flood water, according to the latest data from Sindh’s Education Department, with immediate impact on children’s learning.
“From heatwaves to floods, children are repeatedly being locked out of learning due to climate shocks. Pakistan, already in the grips of an education emergency with 26.2 million children out of school, cannot afford more learning losses,” said UNICEF Representative in Pakistan Abdullah Fadil. “Our hope is that the rainwater subsides quickly, and children can get back to their classrooms. Our fear is that prolonged school closures make it less likely for them to return.”
Since 1st July, the monsoon has claimed 76 lives across the province, half of whom were children. Swollen rivers have submerged homes across Sindh in southern Pakistan displacing 140,000 children and families in 10 calamity-hit districts.
UNICEF teams are on the ground conducting rapid needs assessments and coordinating closely with government and local partners on immediate and longer-term response plans to restore education access and ensure early recovery for affected communities.
Sindh was the most-affected province during the devastating floods of 2022 with critical infrastructure including health and education facilities destroyed virtually overnight. Still reeling, communities again find themselves on the frontlines of extreme weather, with children paying a high price.
“The monsoon has once again upended lives across Pakistan. Children have lost their lives, homes and schools,” added Fadil. “We need urgent investment in climate-resilient education and services for children. We need to build a coalition of partners to innovate, adapt and mitigate in this climate-vulnerable country and find lasting solutions for children in a changed and changing climate.”
Pakistan ranks 14th out of 163 countries on UNICEF’s Children's Climate Risk Index (CCRI), with children at “extremely high risk” of the impacts of climate change and environmental shocks, threatening their health, education and futures.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024