Islamabad: Pakistan is staring at a looming health catastrophe as fresh cholera outbreaks emerge in Khyber Agency and Gilgit-Baltistan, while typhoid and other waterborne diseases spread rapidly from flood-hit regions, officials and experts said warning that nearly all conditions are in place for one of the worst post-flood epidemics in recent memory, threatening millions already displaced.
Medical specialists are calling for emergency vaccination drives against cholera and typhoid, stressing that Pakistan’s existing typhoid conjugate vaccine must be rolled out swiftly in high-risk districts to prevent avoidable deaths.
“The floods have created perfect conditions for cholera to spread. Unless urgent measures are taken, we could see widespread outbreaks within weeks,” an epidemiologist at the National Institute of Health cautioned.
Doctors say overcrowded hospitals, already battling dengue and malaria, are being overwhelmed by typhoid patients—many infected with strains resistant to almost all antibiotics. Without rapid vaccination, they warn, the burden will cripple care for other emergencies.
With stagnant waters, collapsed sewerage systems and crowded shelters in Sindh, southern Punjab and KP, cholera is poised to surge again. Experts urge the government to chlorinate water supplies, establish rehydration points, and secure scarce oral cholera vaccines.
Public health specialists insist that beyond immediate lifesaving measures, Pakistan must invest in climate-resilient water and sanitation systems to avert recurring epidemics. “We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes of 2010,” a Karachi physician said. “Safe water, vaccination and rapid response are the only shields against the next catastrophe.”
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