UN appeals for urgent aid in Pakistan’s flood disaster

UN humanitarian chief John Holmes said "We have a huge task in front of us to deliver all that is required as soon as possible," and all funds will go to delivering food, clean water, shelter and medical supplies.

US Defence Secretary Robert Gates announced the deployment of an amphibious assault ship, taking the number of US helicopters available for the relief effort to 19.

"The flooding in Pakistan has the potential to be significantly more disastrous for the country than the earthquake several years ago," Gates said, with reference to the 2005 quake in Kashmir that killed more than 73,000 people.

US President Barack Obama "wants to lean forward in offering help to the Pakistanis", Gates said. Islamic charities have been working vigilantly in aid effort, with the Islamabad government admitting to being overwhelmed.

The biggest challenge for doctors, from Medecins Sans Frontiers (Doctors Without Borders) is injuries from collapsing buildings or other trauma. "The second is skin infections. We receive a lot of patients with scabies, fungal infections, mostly because of overcrowding (in relief camps),” said one doctor.

A new emerging problem is the outbreak of water-borne disease and nutritional problems, he said.

"There's a need of proper water supply and proper food supply because they have a water supply over here but it's not up to the international standards."

The UN have estimated 1,600 deaths in the floods, while Pakistan has confirmed 1,243. The government says 14 million have been affected by the floods.

With the start of Ramadan yesterday, many families will be losing out on crops in their fields ravaged by the floods. Authorities have promised to provide cooked meals to flood victims during Ramadan and compensate families of those killed.

The chief minister of Sindh, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, said that up to 3.5 million people could be affected in the southern province.

"Although the deaths are far less than they were in the (2004 Indian Ocean) tsunami, and in the 2005 Pakistan earthquake, and in Haiti, the overall number of people affected is much larger than all of those combined," Richard Holbrooke, US special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, said.