by: Brian McAfee, People’s World, December 20, 2010
Photo: A woman and her two children stand in their makeshift shelter in the northwestern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province of Pakistan. Their home was destroyed in the floods that have affected an estimated 2.5 million of the province’s 3.5 million residents.
( UN Photo/UNICEF/ZAK/CC)
( UN Photo/UNICEF/ZAK/CC)
Reports indicate that the hardships from Pakistan’s earlier monsoon floods have been exacerbated by the onslaught of winter.
The floods affected 20 million people — more than 10 percent — of Pakistan’s population of just over 180 million people.
Yet, as the temperature dips, hundreds of thousands of displaced children and adults are susceptible to pneumonia and other cold-related diseases. According to Director of the National Institute of Child Health (Pakistan) Professor Jamal Raza, the flood victims becoming ill from cold related causes, particularly children, could almost double from the current number. Many are living in non-winterized tents, and there are shortages of dry firewood/fuel and other materials, such as adequate clothing, needed to create warmth.
Further, many of the flood ravaged areas from this year’s monsoon remain covered in water and millions are still displaced. Concurrently, many displaced are farmers whose fields are still flooded, and they have no source of livelihood. Food distribution is difficult to carry out under the circumstances.
Concerning the children, Raza says that it will be an uphill battle to save many of the them as they are malnourished, and have experienced a great deal of weight loss due to poor diet. Moreover, he says, their capability for immunity is very low and, accordingly, they are susceptible to a wide range of respiratory diseases. Consequently, there is an urgent need for blankets, quilts and better shelter to fight the cold, as well as provisions for the obvious nutritional and medical needs.
Reports out of Pakistan indicate a further danger caused by the floods: the release of stored toxic chemicals into the flood waters. An article in New Scientist reports the floods released an estimated 3,000 tonnes of toxic chemicals into the environment. The chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) include several insect repellents, such as DDT. At the same time, many of them do not biodegrade in nature, and are purportedly linked to hormonal, developmental and reproductive disorders. Pakistan’s floods have awakened some nations and scientists to this ongoing threat as changes in weather patterns become more evident.
Reputable organizations currently active in the relief effort in Pakistan include OXFAM, AmeriCares and United Nations Refugee Agency. If you consider helping the people of Pakistan through a contribution to any one of them, be sure to specify that the donation is for Pakistan flood relief.
Yet, as the temperature dips, hundreds of thousands of displaced children and adults are susceptible to pneumonia and other cold-related diseases. According to Director of the National Institute of Child Health (Pakistan) Professor Jamal Raza, the flood victims becoming ill from cold related causes, particularly children, could almost double from the current number. Many are living in non-winterized tents, and there are shortages of dry firewood/fuel and other materials, such as adequate clothing, needed to create warmth.
Further, many of the flood ravaged areas from this year’s monsoon remain covered in water and millions are still displaced. Concurrently, many displaced are farmers whose fields are still flooded, and they have no source of livelihood. Food distribution is difficult to carry out under the circumstances.
Concerning the children, Raza says that it will be an uphill battle to save many of the them as they are malnourished, and have experienced a great deal of weight loss due to poor diet. Moreover, he says, their capability for immunity is very low and, accordingly, they are susceptible to a wide range of respiratory diseases. Consequently, there is an urgent need for blankets, quilts and better shelter to fight the cold, as well as provisions for the obvious nutritional and medical needs.
Reports out of Pakistan indicate a further danger caused by the floods: the release of stored toxic chemicals into the flood waters. An article in New Scientist reports the floods released an estimated 3,000 tonnes of toxic chemicals into the environment. The chemicals known as persistent organic pollutants (POPs) include several insect repellents, such as DDT. At the same time, many of them do not biodegrade in nature, and are purportedly linked to hormonal, developmental and reproductive disorders. Pakistan’s floods have awakened some nations and scientists to this ongoing threat as changes in weather patterns become more evident.
Reputable organizations currently active in the relief effort in Pakistan include OXFAM, AmeriCares and United Nations Refugee Agency. If you consider helping the people of Pakistan through a contribution to any one of them, be sure to specify that the donation is for Pakistan flood relief.
1 comment:
Hello Indian T.V. serial! (Is this a product ad? If so, you are at the wrong place!)
I can add to what you say in a slightly different way. The first thing we need to be clear about is who is fighting whom and for what.
The Afghan tribesmen have been fighting the greatest military and political power on the planet Earth for the last 9 years because the U.S. government had invaded and occupied their land and installed a puppet regime in Kabul. We don’t need an Aristotle to tell us what this imperial war folly is all about and which corporate interests it serves.
American generals and their fighting men are not idiots. Oh, no, far from it! They are professional people and they are doing what the U.S. government, controlled by corporate interests (read: war profiteers and money-makers), orders them to do. They are an effective killing-machine, in every sense of the term.
Is this a war between the American people and the Afghans? The answer is : No, not at all.
Contrary to what the official propaganda says, this war is not between the American and Afghan Taliban. This war is more about asserting by the imperial power of the ruling elites and the corporate interests of the United States of America over Afghanistan for its unclear and hazy objectives. In brief, that is the essence of the matter. In concretet terms: for the American weapon industry, the continuation of this long war is a lucrative business that adds billions of dollars to its ‘patriotic’ role and its services!
But, at the same time, we should be clear about the people who are destroyed, killed, maimed or injured, whether they are ‘American men and women in the uniform’ and their NATO allies or the ordinary Afghans, matter little in the imperial strategy of the warmongers. However, in this war, it is obvious the greatest military power can kill and destroy more than those who oppose the occupation and control of their land, Afghanistan. On such matters, any information what the ordinary U.S. citizens or other people around the world get, is, the U.S. official version, which the main stream media pick up, publicise and support.
Post a Comment