Dr Besser's Notebook: The Looming Disaster in Pakistan

—August 30, 2010 -- KARACHI - Twenty million people have been impacted by the floods in Pakistan. It's the worst natural disaster in the country's history. Unlike an earthquake where devastation happens quickly, with floods, the disaster builds slowly. I'm on my way to Pakistan to cover the impact on health.

Watch Dr. Besser's reports from Pakistan this week on World News with Diane Sawyer and Good Morning America.

I have lived, worked, and traveled across the world all of my life. I get incredible energy from experiencing new cultures and places. I realized I had this bug as an exchange student in Australia when I was sixteen. That was followed by a year going around the globe on the cheap after college; six months working in the Himalayan Mountains in India during medical school; 2 months on the Island of Truk doing post-typhoon assistance as a pediatric resident; a year working on polio vaccine research and cholera treatment in Bangladesh; and years working in a medical clinic in Mexico. I know the incredible task medical workers face daily in developing countries. The mission becomes extraordinary on the heels of a natural disaster.

Now that I'm at ABC News, the travel is different. I go to capture images, tell stories, and most importantly, help us understand this problem in a new way. We have seen the facts -- devastation encompassing an area the size of England. More than a half a million Pakistani's are stranded and only accessible by air.

But this disaster is unlike any other experienced in the region. U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon calls it the worst disaster he has ever seen. Now Pakistan and all agencies working to provide relief face one of the largest challenges -- preventing the second wave of death from disease and hunger. Although the flood waters are receding, the damage remains. Many fear the worst is yet to come.