KARACHI: Healthcare professionals and government officials discussed heat action plans developed for 20 cities of Sindh at a consultative meeting.

The meeting was jointly organised by the Centre of Excellence for Trauma and Emergencies (CETE) at Aga Khan University (AKU) and the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh.

The event marked a milestone in the Heat Emergency Awareness and Treatment (HEAT) project, funded by Enhancing Learning and Research for Humanitarian Assistance (ELRHA), a UK-based humanitarian funding body.

It brought together over 20 senior government officials, including assistant commissioners, additional deputy commissioners, and district health officers, from five of Sindh’s most heat-prone cities: Hyderabad, Dadu, Larkana, Mirpurkhas and Nausharo Feroze.

Over the past year, CETE and PDMA Sindh have supported local authorities in developing tailored heat action plans focused on early warning systems, public awareness, emergency health response, and interdepartmental coordination. These cities were selected by PDMA based on their acute vulnerability to recurring extreme heat events.

“Each year, extreme heat pushes our healthcare systems to the brink and endangers lives, especially in vulnerable districts,” said Syed Shayan Shah, director operations, PDMA Sindh.

“These heat action plans give our local administrations concrete protocols: when to issue warnings, how to coordinate ambulance services, where to set up heat relief camps. It’s the kind of structured, city-level preparedness Sindh urgently needs.”

Highlighting the initiative’s significance, the speakers said that it had come at a critical time when millions across Sindh, especially low-income households, the elderly, outdoor workers and residents of informal settlements, remained at high risk during heatwaves due to limited access to cooling and routine power outages.

They recalled that the 2024 heatwave alone led to 5,358 hospital admissions for heat-related illnesses and 158 livestock deaths. The PDMA officials shared that during the period between April and May, 2025, 675 heatstroke cases were treated across the province.

Overall, an estimated 8.6 million people across 26 districts in Sindh faced heightened food insecurity due to compounding heat and drought risks, they said.

Healthcare infrastructures, they shared, continued to be strained during such events. Emergency centres often faced shortages of basic supplies like IV fluids, oxygen and cooling beds, while clinics reported long wait times and admission delays, further contributing to fatalities.

“We are proud to have supported city administrations in building these action plans,” added Zaheer Chaand, Project Lead for HEAT at CETE, AKU. “This is a locally driven, evidence-informed effort that puts climate adaptation in the hands of those closest to the communities,” he added.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2025