Severe flooding in the African countries of South Sudan and Ethiopia is putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of contracting diseases such as malaria, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a press release on Tuesday
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 27th October, 2020) Severe flooding in the African countries of South Sudan and Ethiopia is putting hundreds of thousands of people at risk of contracting diseases such as malaria, Doctors Without Borders (MSF) said in a press release on Tuesday.
"Now, we are preparing for an increase in diseases in all flood-affected areas, such as diarrheal diseases and malaria, given the high risks caused by displacement and crowding, poor hygiene conditions, and a lack of functioning latrines," Ibrahim Muhammad, MSF's head of mission in South Sudan, said in the press release.
According to the humanitarian organization, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, an uptick in violence, and growing food insecurity is also hampering efforts to respond to the floods.
MSF has already provided health care services to more than 13,000 patients in flood-hit Pibor in South Sudan over the last two months, the humanitarian organization said, adding that more than 46,000 people in the southern Ethiopian region of Dasenech have been displaced due to the floods.
"We reached nine sites where around 46,000 displaced people had sought refuge. Three sites were only accessible by boat," Nigatu Aweke, MSF medical referent in Dasenech, said in the press release.
The humanitarian organization is working to provide 45,000 liters (11,887 gallons) of water per day to the affected regions in order to limit the spread of infectious diseases.
Almost one million people were affected by flooding in South Sudan in the fall of 2019, according to estimates published at that time by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
