ISLAMABAD: The International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent (IFRC) has launched a preliminary emergency appeal for US$ 12 million to provide urgent relief and medical support to the victims of devastating floods in Pakistan.

Meanwhile, the United Nations is making arrangements to provide food supplies to half a million people in the flood affected areas of Sindh for the next one month and is in the process of supplying 20,000 tents within this week.

The government estimated that almost five million people are directly affected by the floods which have inundated almost four million acres of land and damaged or destroyed close to one million homes.

The disaster is at its worst in Sindh province, which is still reeling from the effects of last year's floods. Other affected provinces include Balochistan and Punjab.

In Sindh, the impact is vastly heightened due to widespread breaches of agricultural canals and saline water drains. During the last month, intense and scattered heavy rainfall has led to flooding in 20 of Sindh's 23 districts, five of which have been declared calamity areas.

UN OCHA’s John Ging informed the meeting that the situation was as bad as was described by the president. The scale was enormous and warranted big response and generous funding from donors.

He added that the UN Secretary General was personally monitoring the situation to lead the efforts by the international Community to provide relief and rescue to the disaster stricken population.

The UN team acknowledged that the size and the scale of disaster was enormous and could put any relief and rescue system under stress. The UN team is visiting Pakistan in response to President Asif Ali Zardari's telephonic conversation with the UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and would undertake rapid need assessment of the situation to launch a formal international appeal for urgent humanitarian assistance to flood affected population.

The PRCS in a press statement said that the current disaster has left several hundred people without food and shelter, adding that over 140,000 displaced people are now living in temporary relief camps.

According to Pakistan Red Crescent Society (PRCS), the IFRC has launched this 10.6 million Swiss francs appeal to support the relief operations in the affected areas.

The IFRC appeal will enable the Red Crescent to help further 105,000 people over the coming four months in the worst hit districts of Badin, Mirpurkhas, Khairpur, Shaheed Benazirabad, and Dadu in Sindh province.

The focus for the Red Crescent will be on providing emergency relief covering basic food and essential household items, tents and tarpaulins for shelter and medical care with focus on reducing the risk of water borne diseases, and improved access to clean water and sanitation.

There has been widespread disruption to local medical services. Many basic health units and rural health centres in the severely affected districts of Sindh are under water and are inaccessible. The most common diseases are diarrhoea, acute respiratory tract infections, skin infections and suspected malaria.