UNITED NATIONS, Aug 9 (Saba) -- Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Monday said the UN will soon launch an appeal for hundreds of millions of dollars to respond to the needs of millions of flood victims in Pakistan, according to Kuwait News Agency (KUNA).

"We will soon issue an Emergency Response Plan and an appeal for several hundred million dollars to respond to (their) immediate needs," Ban told a press conference, stressing that "we must also give thought to medium and longer-term assistance," and appealing for donors to "generously support Pakistan at this difficult time."

He said he is "extremely concerned" about the humanitarian impact of the floods which affected millions of people, as the "scale of this disaster rivals that of the earthquake in October 2005, but this time the geographic range is much greater."

He noted that the UN is on the ground working to supplement the efforts of the Government and local and international NGOs to provide immediate relief -- food, clean drinking water, shelter, health materials.

Ban also said he was "shocked and appalled at the murder of ten medical workers in Badakhshan, Afghanistan, over the weekend. "We condemn this serious crime," he stressed.

He emphasized that health workers must have access to treat those in need and must be able to do so without fear, and recalled that, under international law, health workers must be protected while they carry out their life-saving work.

Saba