OPERATIONAL UPDATE - MSF’s response in Balochistan

In Balochistan, 31 districts out of 33 have been severely affected. Areas around Dera Murad Jamali (DMJ) have experienced significant flooding over the last two weeks. Our teams, including staff who’ve had their own homes flooded, responded quickly to provide primary healthcare to people congregating on the roads and in schools; finding many of those who’ve lost their homes have set up makeshift shelters along or near the roadways. 

MSF has started mobile clinics in DMJ, providing primary healthcare and health promotion activities, as well as referrals to the MSF-supported District Headquarters hospital, DMJ. Most of the patients treated have presented with respiratory infections, fever, skin diseases and diarrhea. We are also screening for malnutrition and have seen children from our Ambulatory Therapeutic Feeding Centre (ATFC) activities in the mobile clinics.  The volume of patients has so far not been huge, especially in the first couple of days, but this is likely due to access issues, with many towns and villages cut off by the floodwater. Our mobile clinics are running daily and the team is currently visiting three locations around DMJ and providing drinking water by setting up water points and non-food items (NFIs including soaps, buckets, cooking utensils, mosquito nets) have also been distributed.

MSF also has projects in Quetta and Chaman, closer to the border with Afghanistan. The team has set up emergency water distribution points in Quetta city and donated approximately 300 non-food item kits. In Chaman, MSF has begun fixing damaged water pipes, distributing NFIs and has started a mobile clinic.

Assessments are also being done in Killa Abdullah district in the northwest of Balochistan province.

PS: the attached pictures can be downloaded and used with the following credits: ©MSF