International reporting
Pakistan: cases of insolation multiply in Jacobabad, the hottest city in the world
Audio 02:35
In this photo taken on May 12, 2022, a worker drinks water from a hand pump at a brick kiln during the heat wave in Jacobabad, in southern Pakistan's southern province of Sindh.
(Illustrative image) AFP - AAMIR QURESHI
By: Sonia Ghezali Follow
3 mins
With its 220 million inhabitants, Pakistan is one of the countries on the front line of climate change.
The south of the country faces extreme temperatures.
This is where Jacobabad is.
Plunged into extreme poverty, its inhabitants must survive this deadly heat where cases of sunstroke are increasing.
At the civilian hospital, the medical staff are doing their best to accommodate the population.
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An elderly man has just arrived in the emergency room.
Lying on a stretcher, eyes closed, one hand on his head, he breathes weakly.
Doctor Soomro, head doctor of the emergency department, welcomes him: “
What is happening to you?
Do you have vertigo?
Were you outside?
Do you think you might have caught a heatstroke
?
The old man nods limply.
Doctor Soomro's diagnosis is clear: the man is suffering from hyperthermia.
An evil that is growing in Jacobabad.
“
We have more and more patients who are victims of sunstroke due to the heat.
They have the symptoms of gastroenteritis, they have vomiting, fever, it's very common,
explains Doctor Soomoro.
And in addition here the hygienic conditions are very bad.
We have many cases of malaria in this region in addition to heatstroke which people are victims of.
»
The heat here is stifling, but the air is also very humid.
A test for the human body.
To avoid sunstroke, everyone must follow certain rules, explains doctor Manzoor Soomro.
“
I advise patients not to go outside between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m.
I advise them to stay at home.
And if they have to go out, they have to cover their heads to protect themselves from the sun.
»
Extreme poverty and heat wave
Only, Jacobabad combines the difficulties.
The city is one of the poorest in Pakistan.
For daily workers, it is impossible to give up work, which allows them to feed their families from day to day.
The doctor is well aware of this, but he insists on the precautions that everyone here must take.
At the peak of the heat wave last May, the thermostat showed 51 degrees in this city of Sindh, in the south of the country.
Record temperatures, a consequence of global warming.
"
People have to be very careful, they shouldn't take this extreme heat lightly, people who work have to go out very early in the morning
," warns the doctor.
The temperatures are changing, we see that the climate is changing.
And in Jacobabad, there is no green space, there are no shady places, and that is a huge problem for us.
»
At the hospital, patients fan themselves with laminated boxes and plastic fans.
In some rooms the fans are on.
The few air conditioners are off, explains a hospital employee.
“
Few air conditioners work here because of the lack of electricity, long power cuts
.
Unfortunately, we face many difficulties.
Before, life was not rosy either, but we worked in better conditions than today.
»
Power cuts last between 6 and 12 hours in the hottest city in the world.
The hospital cannot afford a generator, due to soaring gas prices in the country.
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Pakistan
Climate change
Health and medicine
Poverty