Monsoon menace

MONSOONS are a recurring feature and come as no surprise. And yet, astonishingly, the most predictable health threats associated with the season are routinely neglected.

The most common monsoon health hazards include: acute watery diarrhoea and cholera, especially in Sindh and southern Punjab, where flooding contaminates drinking water; dengue and malaria outbreaks, common in urban lowlands like Karachi, Lahore and Peshawar due to standing water and poor drainage; skin infections, scabies...