UN flood aid appeal jumps amid disease surge in Pakistan

By MUNIR AHMED
Associated Press

ISLAMABAD (AP) — The United Nations is asking for five times’ more international aid after deadly floods in Pakistan left millions of survivors homeless and at rising risk of waterborne diseases. The UN on Tuesday upped its request to $816 million from $160 million, saying recent assessments pointed to the urgent need for long-term help. The request in Geneva came a day after Julien Harneis, the U.N. coordinator for Pakistan, said diseases such as malaria, dengue fever, scabies and malnutrition are fueling a “second wave of death and destruction.” Floods in impoverished Pakistan have affected 33 million people and killed at least 1,696 since mid-June.