Mothers &Child Bearing the Brunt of Pakistan Flood Crisis

Wraa Noor
Islamabad: The recent severe flooding in parts of Pakistan has left some 3.4 million children in need of aid for being at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning, and malnutrition and more than 1.6 million of the 6.4 million people require urgent humanitarian aid.

According to the official statistics, 8.2 million women of reproductive age are among the estimated 33 million afflicted people nationwide.
About 650,000 pregnant women and girls in flood-stricken areas need maternal health care and assistance to ensure a safe pregnancy and delivery according to a recent statement by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). These are grim scenarios for the women affected by the severe flooding.
In the most severely affected regions of Balochistan and Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the UNHCR has sent aid supplies. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo Grandi has pleaded with the world for more assistance and support to Pakistan with its disaster relief efforts.
Parliamentary Secretary Science and IT, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Dr Rubaba Buledi issued a warning that if the necessary medical facilities are not made available to pregnant women in flood-affected areas of the country, including Balochistan, many of them would die giving childbirth.

Pak’s deteriorating healthcare system
According to the World Health Organization, more than 1,460 health facilities are affected nationwide, of which 432 are fully damaged and 1,028 are partially damaged.
Access to healthcare facilities and staff, basic medications and medical supplies are also constrained.
More than 1,000 health facilities in Sind and 198 Baluchistan have been fully or partially destroyed.
The extensive damage to roads and communication networks further hinders access to clinics and hospitals. These barriers are disproportionately affecting women and girls giving births whilst preventing timely access to contraception and other reproductive health services.
Since most births in Pakistan take place at home and many homes are destroyed by the torrential rains further adding to their uncertainty and anxiety for not knowing where the births may take place.
Additionally, pregnant women in the camps lament that there aren’t enough female medical professionals there to assist them. In Pakistan’s traditional society, it is largely unacceptable for women to seek interventions from male doctors, especially for gynaecological issues. Hence, the majority of them have resisted getting examined by the visiting male doctors.
Classified Child Specialist Dr Imran Chaudhary said, “Certain medical facilities are deemed essential for childbirths, for example, operation theatres, child specialist doctors, suction machines, and oxygen machines. Since these facilities are not available in flood-hit regions, the new born babies are vulnerable to certain health issues such as sepsis, breathe presentation sepsis and Meconium aspiration syndrome (MAS) infection.”
Even before this year’s floods, Pakistani women struggled with a number of issues related to their reproductive health and experienced one of the highest maternal mortality ratios in South Asia.
The maternal mortality rate (MMR) is highest in Balochistan as compared to other provinces of the country. “Out of every 100,000 women, over 300 in Balochistan die after giving birth,” according to Civil Hospital Quetta (CHQ) Head of Gynaecology Department Prof Dr Ayesha Siddiqa.
“Labour rooms, gynae ward and paediatrics ward do not have sufficient capacity and medical facilities to deal with daily pregnancy cases,” Dr Ayesha apprised.

Young vulnerable to floods
The severe flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains have washed away villages and left some 3.4 million children in need of aid and at increased risk of waterborne diseases, drowning, and malnutrition. They are living out in the open with their families without access to drinking water, food, or a means of support. Therefore, the risk of waterborne illness including cholera is very likely.
Dr Rubaba Buledi in her media briefing drew attention to the impending malaria epidemic in the flood-affected Naseerabad division of Balochistan. “The incubation period may turn deadly in seven to eight days, and the exceptional growth in malaria cases will pose major dangers in the coming days,” she stated.
The repercussions of these climatic crises are particularly severe for women, girls and children, especially from the poorer sections of society.
Pakistani authorities and international donors must prioritise the needs of pregnant women and girls and access to sexual and reproductive health during the recovery period. Non-governmental organisations with a focus on health also must come forward too. The global community no longer can ignore this plea for help either.