2022’s disastrous floods affected 33 million Pakistanis, and left many communities cut off from healthcare, and many children missing out on vaccines. A project in Sindh set out to fix that.

Aaishaa, wife of Asadullah Malokhani, was pale and showing other signs of anaemia following the premature birth of her son. A resident of Hashim Rustamani village in the flood-ravaged Dadu district of Pakistan, the young mother was completely unaware of the care she and her infant needed in those vulnerable early months after the birth.

But in November 2023, health workers visiting the remote communities of Sindh that had been cut off from care by the disastrous floods of 2022 arrived on her doorstep. They offered Aaishaa the polio vaccine for her infant, but she hesitated. The past year and a half had been a traumatic period, and circulating misinformation had made the young mother unsure of her next steps.

Through patient counselling and education, the health workers alleviated her concerns, eventually gaining her trust. Soon, Aaishaa not only agreed to have her baby immunised, but also connected with a trusted community midwife worker for guidance on postnatal care.

Aaishaa’s son became one of almost 6,300 children – and one of 720 previously unimmunised children – across four flood-affected districts of Sindh to be reached with routine vaccines in just over a year, as part of a Jhpiego initiative supported by Gavi. But vitally, the health teams did not stop at immunisation: the vulnerable, often still-displaced families had complex needs, and the health teams came equipped to meet them.