Flooding in Pakistan: reaching displaced populations with malaria services in remote areas

Stagnant pools of water following the 2022 floods

When the floods struck Pakistan in the summer of 2022, more than a third of the country was under water. An estimated 33 million people were affected, and many were forced to seek shelter in temporary camps. After the floods receded, stagnant pools of water became ideal breeding sites for malaria-carrying mosquitoes, resulting in high levels of transmission of the disease. 

 

Reaching affected people in remote areas through mobile health clinics

People living in remote areas with weak health systems were among those most affected. WHO and partners have been reaching these and other displaced populations with malaria services through mobile clinics and door-to-door campaigns. 

 

Insecticide-treated nets: a key prevention tool

Sleeping under an insecticide-treated net (ITN) is one of the most effective ways to prevent malaria. Here, a health worker informs both local residents of Sohbatpur, Balochistan, as well as people who have been displaced by the floods, about how to correctly install and use an ITN.

 

Local residents receive nets – and training in how to use them

Shazia Bibi is one of the many local residents in Sohbatpur who received an ITN – and training in how to correctly use it – through a door-to-door campaign supported by WHO.

 

Indoor residual spraying: another effective intervention to prevent malaria

Indoor residual spraying (IRS) is another WHO-recommended intervention to prevent malaria. It involves coating walls and other resting surfaces for mosquitoes with insecticides.  Here, a group of men trained by WHO embark on an IRS campaign in Sohbatpur, Balochistan.

 

Measuring the impact of interventions

Before and after applying IRS, WHO entomologists collected mosquitoes from inside and outside residential structures to assess the impact of the intervention.

 

Rapid diagnostic tests detect malaria in just 15 to 20 minutes

Access to an accurate and timely diagnosis can prevent a malaria infection from progressing to severe disease and death. Rapid diagnostic tests (RDTs) have enabled health workers across Pakistan, and other malaria-endemic countries, to detect the disease in just 15-30 minutes. 

 

Treating malaria cases with antimalarial medicines

Those who test positive for malaria require prompt treatment with an effective antimalarial medicine. After a positive malaria diagnosis, Mujahid Ali, pictured here, received antimalarial medicine from a health worker through a door-to-door campaign in Sohbatpur.  

 

WHO-supported mobile health clinics provide door-to-door care

Umaida Khatoon’s 6-month-old son also tested positive for malaria. He received antimalarial medicine from a doctor at a WHO-supported mobile health clinic in the Naseerabad Division of Balochistan. 

 

Mortality due to malaria is now "under control"

Thanks to these and others efforts, the immediate malaria crisis seems to be receding. “We can see that mortality, and especially infant mortality, is back under control,” noted Dr Baseer Achakzai, Director General of Pakistan’s Health Ministry, in a recent interview with WHO.