Pakistan launches public awareness campaign to combat ongoing heat wave

ISLAMABAD, May 23 (Xinhua) -- Pakistani government has launched a public awareness campaign to counter the adverse impacts of the severe ongoing heat wave spell in the South Asian country, coordinator to the Pakistani prime minister on climate change and environmental coordination Romina Khurshid Alam said on Thursday.

"Measures are being taken to spread mass awareness for the public through adopting preventive measures about heat waves and to reduce its impacts through issuing advisories, public service messages, and awareness campaigns through television, radio and social media platforms," the official said during a press conference.

Commenting on the country's hardest-hit areas, Alam said that 13 districts of southern Sindh province, nine in eastern Punjab province, and four districts of southwest Balochistan are experiencing severe heat waves.

"Rising global temperature across the world is a matter of serious concern. In Pakistan, the months of May and June are recorded as driest and hottest with higher monthly average temperatures," she said.