Pakistan flood crisis "a long way from being over"

Three months into Pakistan’s flood crisis, over seven million people are still living without adequate shelter, exposed to the impending winter.

While areas in the north have already begun to rebuild, aid workers in the south are still dealing with the immediate needs of flood victims.

“The crisis is a long way from being over,” says Michael O’Brien, spokesperson for the International Committee of the Red Cross in Pakistan.

He says that stagnant water in the country’s south is causing food and health emergencies, as local authorities look into how the water can be pumped or drained.

“That’s had an impact on people being able to get back onto their properties to farm,” O’Brien told Vatican Radio. “But it’s also had an impact on where we saw the health issues in the country going. There’s less emphasis now on gastro-intestinal problems but there’s more emphasis on mosquito-borne diseases and the impact of malnutrition.”

Listen to Michael O’Brien’s full interview with Kelsea Brennan-Wessels: