Thousands of flood victims in Bangladesh could die of disease unless urgent precautions are taken, the official news agency BSS on Wednesday quoted relief workers as saying.
The death toll in the floods that hit on July 10 has risen to 628, with unconfirmed reports putting the figure at 800, BSS said.
Relief workers from the World Health Organisation and other bodies told the agency many more are at risk from water-borne and other diseases.
They predicted a ”severe” health situation, ”likely to claim the lives of thousands unless urgent precautions were taken”, BSS said.
Relief workers have been scrambling to deliver medical supplies, food and water-purification tablets to villagers marooned by the floods.
The government is working with donor agencies to distribute aid and the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society as well as the United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) have launched international appeals for more than $16-million.
But many flood victims, especially those in remote rural areas, have still had little or no help and many are suffering from diarrhoea and skin diseases. Thousands of others are enduring pitiful conditions in camps.
The UN, meanwhile, said Bangladesh will take at least a year to recover from the flooding.
UN acting resident coordinator Douglas Casson Coutts said it will take a minimum of 12 months for the country to return to its pre-flood situation.
”We are still working out exact numbers but it is already clear that the country will need a lot of support to get back on its feet,” he said.
Tens of millions of people now face grave food insecurity, water-borne diseases, a badly mangled infrastructure and extremely poor prospects for the next rice crop, he said in a statement.
The UN is preparing a comprehensive post-flood rehabilitation plan due to be presented to funding donors next week.
At their height the floods submerged two-thirds of the country and left about 30-million people marooned or homeless.
The government has estimated $6,6-billion-worth of damage has been done to property and infrastructure.
Unicef said on Tuesday it is alarmed at the exceptionally high number of flood victims suffering from pneumonia and acute respiratory infections, as it is one of the biggest and swiftest killers of children in Bangladesh.
The Flood Warning Centre said on Wednesday that based on current rainfall the flooding will be over within the next week.
But it said there could be further, but less severe, flooding from mid-August. — Sapa-AFP