Many of MSF’s staff members have been directly affected by this most recent disaster, including colleagues whose homes have been flooded. Despite this, our teams across the country have adapted their activities to respond to the most pressing needs of people affected by the floods, including many who have been displaced. We are providing medical and mental health care, safe drinking water, and non-food items, including hygiene kits and mosquito nets.

Pakistan 2020 © MSF/Nasir Ghafoor
Pakistan
Catastrophic flooding in Pakistan leads to growing humanitarian needs, on top of existing challenges many people face getting access to health care.
Our work in Pakistan
Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) regular programs focus on improving access to health care for women and children and treatment for communicable diseases. In August 2022, we began responding to a massive flooding disaster caused by unusually heavy monsoon rains.
January 2023—At least 33 million people have been affected by recent flooding in Pakistan that has left one-third of the country underwater. More than 1,300 people died, including at least 458 children, and more than 12,700 people were injured. The government of Pakistan declared a national emergency on August 26, appealing for international aid. Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) has responded with the following activities:
· Over 95,900 patients were consulted at our mobile clinics in Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
· Over 44,800 kits of essential relief items, including hygiene and kitchen kits, mosquito nets and mosquito repellent, were distributed to affected families in Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhuwa, and Sindh
· Over 465,494m3 liters of clean drinking water was provided in Sindh, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
- Over 23,707 patients treated for malaria and 7,458 treated for malnutrition at our mobile clinics in Eastern Balochistan and Sindh
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What's happening in Pakistan?
Health care for women and children is a serious concern in Pakistan. Women in rural areas die from preventable complications during pregnancy and delivery, and neonatal care is unavailable in many areas. According to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, one in every 11 children dies before the age of five.
Experts warn that the devastating floods in Pakistan are a wake-up call alerting the world to the threats posed by the climate emergency. While multiple factors have compounded the disaster, initial scientific analysis reports that climate change likely contributed to this year's record-breaking monsoon rainfall. Heavy rains are becoming more frequent and intense in many parts of the world due to greenhouse gas emissions, according to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Pakistan is considered among the countries most at risk due to the impact of extreme weather events, according to the Global Climate Risk Index developed by the organization Germanwatch.
How we're helping in Pakistan
MSF has been present in Pakistan since 1986 and has responded to several natural disasters in the country, including flooding in Dadu, Sindh province, in 2020. MSF currently runs seven programs in Pakistan employing more than 1,800 staff—about 97 percent of whom are locally hired.

How we're helping in 2021
19,100
Births assisted
10,700
Doses of COVID-19 vaccines administered
10,500
Admissions of children to outpatient feeding programs
6,200
People treated for cutaneous leishmaniasis
80
Outpatient consultations for COVID-19
More news and stories
Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.
Learn about MSF’s journalistic roots and our commitment to bear witness and speak out about the plight of the people we treat.
How you can help
Not everyone can treat patients in the field. But everyone can do something.
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