Sindh province in Pakistan is facing a growing climate crisis, prompting local officials to take decisive action. This year alone, over 5,358 people have been hospitalized with heat-related illnesses, and 675 confirmed cases of heatstroke were reported between April and May. In response to these alarming statistics, five of Sindh’s most vulnerable cities – Hyderabad, Dadu, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, and Naushero Feroze – have implemented specific heat action plans designed to lessen the impact of extreme temperatures on public health.
This initiative comes as an estimated 8.6 million people across 26 districts in Sindh are struggling with increased food insecurity due to heat and drought. Simultaneously, emergency health services are facing shortages of critical supplies like IV fluids, oxygen, and cooling beds. The extreme heat has also taken a toll on livestock, with 158 deaths reported in 2024.
On June 20, 2025, the Centre of Excellence for Trauma and Emergencies (CETE) at Aga Khan University (AKU), in conjunction with the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh, held a meeting to finalize these City Heat Action Plans. The gathering brought together over 20 senior officials from the five high-risk cities to establish clear protocols for heat preparedness.
According to Syed Shayan Shah, director of operations at PDMA Sindh, these plans will provide local administrations with practical guidelines on issuing warnings, coordinating ambulance services, and establishing heat relief camps. These structured, city-level preparedness measures are urgently needed in Sindh.
The heat action plans, developed over the past year through the HEAT (Heat Emergency Awareness and Treatment) project funded by the UK-based humanitarian agency Elrha, emphasize early warning systems, public awareness campaigns, coordinated health responses, and collaboration between different departments. PDMA selected the five cities based on their high vulnerability to recurring extreme heat events.
Millions of people in Sindh, particularly those in low-income households, the elderly, daily wage laborers, and residents of informal settlements, remain at risk due to limited access to cooling and frequent power outages. The region’s already strained healthcare system struggles to cope during heatwaves, leading to long wait times, admission delays, depleted supplies, and ultimately, preventable deaths.
Zaheer Chaand, project lead for HEAT at CETE, AKU, expressed pride in supporting city administrations in creating these action plans. He emphasized that this is a locally driven, evidence-based effort to empower communities to adapt to climate change.
The initiative is being praised as a potentially scalable model for climate resilience, providing local governments with the necessary tools to protect lives in the face of increasingly frequent and intense heatwaves. With temperatures predicted to rise further in the coming years, these heat action plans could prove essential in preventing future health crises throughout Sindh.
