American Refugee Committee Teams Provide Health Care to Thousands of Flood Survivors in Pakistan

Minneapolis, August 16, 2010 —  

The American Refugee Committee is providing medical care to survivors of the floods in Pakistan, which have uprooted 20 million people and which the UN Secretary General called the worst disaster he’s ever seen.

“The situation here is desperate,” said Jill McGrath Jones, American Refugee Committee team leader.  “People lack food and clean water.  With Ramadan starting, people can’t even afford to buy food for their evening meals.  The people here are living in open air or in crowded buildings—they have nowhere to go.”

The team set up medical camps where people are settling, as many health centers were washed away in the floods. Cases of diarrheal disease and malaria are on the rise. 

“The scope of this disaster is absolutely unimaginable,” said Daniel Wordsworth, President of the American Refugee Committee.  “It will take years for the country to rebuild, and we plan to help the people of Pakistan for as long as we are needed.”

The American Refugee Committee team is coordinating with partners and assisting survivors in Sibi District in Baluchistan; and Swat, Khyber-Pakhtoonkhwa (formerly North-West Frontier Province).

About the American Refugee Committee
American Refugee Committee programs are built from the ground up.  We work with people at the most vulnerable points in their lives, when they have lost everything to war or disaster.  They let us know what they need most, and we work together to develop ways to help them get it.  Our programs are as diverse as the people we serve, but they all work together for the same goal:  to help people take back control of their lives.  We help nearly 2.5 million people a year through programs around the world.  The American Refugee Committee has been operating in Pakistan since 2002.  We currently assist refugees living along Pakistan’s border with Afghanistan, as well as people affected by the recent conflict in Pakistan’s Swat Valley. 

Press contact:
Therese Gales, American Refugee Committee (800) 875-7060, ThereseG@ARChq.org