YOU CAN DONATE ONLINE AT WWW.DEC.ORG.UK BY PHONE: 0370 60 60 900 OR TEXT "GIVE" TO 70707 TO DONATE £5. A standard network rate charge will apply.

Scottish Aid Agencies, backed by the broadcaster Shereen Nanjiani, launched a national appeal (Thursday) to help the many hundreds of thousands of people affected by monsoon flooding in North West Pakistan, which has been the worst in 80 years. More than 1400 people are known to have died and 3 million more have been affected in the aftermath. In response the Disasters Emergency Committee (DEC) is pooling its resources to launch a national fundraising appeal.

The immediate concern for aid agencies is the provision of safe drinking water, food, temporary shelter, healthcare and to remove decomposing animals contaminating water supplies and posing public health risks, with outbreaks of water borne diseases such as cholera now a real threat.

Speaking at the launch in Glasgow, broadcaster and journalist, Shereen Nanjiani, said:

"These floods are the worst to hit Pakistan in 80 years. The death toll is horrifying and hundreds of thousands more people have lost everything. It is a huge humanitarian disaster.

"Many people in Scotland - myself included - have family ties to Pakistan and many will have relatives suffering because of the floods.

"Scots are renowned for their generosity and I would urge everyone to do what they can to help bring relief to the people of Pakistan whose lives have been devastated.

Just £7.50 is enough to buy a hygiene kit for a family of six, allowing them to keep themselves clean and prevent disease."

Speaking from North West Pakistan, Habib Malik, an Aberdeen based aid worker with the DEC agency, Islamic Relief, said:

"Since landing here in Pakistan on Saturday I've been speaking to survivors of the flooding and I have been overwhelmed by the sheer scale of the disaster.

The floodwater has swept away homes, bridges, roads and entire villages. As the water rose, entire livelihoods were washed away in a matter of hours.

Without your donations, aid will not reach these people and the death toll will continue to rise. You can help survivors of the flooding to fight back against the threat of disease and to help them rebuild their livelihoods.

Soon the media buzz surrounding this catastrophe will settle down, but we must not let the people of Pakistan be forgotten."

Launching the appeal, Gerry McLaughlin, Chair of the DEC in Scotland said:

"The monsoon flooding which has caused devastation in Pakistan is an ongoing natural disaster. So far, more than 1,400 people have lost their lives and approximately 3 million others have been affected. More rains are expected.

"Urgent measures are required to provide shelter for those who have lost their homes and sanitation to prevent disease.

"The DEC is appealing to the people of Scotland - which has a large Pakistani population - to give whatever they can to help the victims of the floods."

What your money will buy:

* £25: 5,000 chlorine tablets for safe drinking water

* £50: will feed 2 families for a month

* £100: will buy a family winterised tent

What's being done:

Islamic Relief is providing vehicles to the local authority in Muzaffarabad to help rescue stranded victims. Tent distributions have taken place in Nowshera, Muzaffarabad and Neelum Valley. Emergency food supplies have been delivered to 2,000 families in Muzaffarabad and hygiene kits have been distributed in Neelum Valley.

Oxfam is delivering clean water to almost 100,000 people made homeless by the flooding. In four of the worst affected areas of the Khyber Paktankhwa (formally NWFP) and Punjab Province, Oxfam and partners are repairing damaged water systems and trucking drinking water to those stranded or displaced from their homes. In Punjab Province, Oxfam has deployed emergency boats to assist government search and rescue efforts, which have already evacuated 54,000 people to safety.

The International Committee of the Red Cross has provided food parcels for over 20,000 individuals in Balochistan and southern Federally Administered Tribal Areas, which were distributed by the Pakistan Red Crescent Society. They have also provided emergency health care to around 5000 people, and have been distributing tents, and other essential aid from their pre-positioned stocks.

Christian Aid is a member of the ACT Alliance, a global coalition of 100 churches and church-related organisations that work together in humanitarian assistance and development. Christian Aid has sent £50K so far to the ACT Alliance Pakistan Forum to provide food, shelter and medical assistance to some 50,000 people.

Concern is providing clean water, food, shelter, mosquito nets, basic hygiene and kitchen items, emergency medical assistance and distributing pre-emergency stocks to the most vulnerable families.

Save the Children have delivered emergency medicine, first aid, shelter and hygiene kits by rafts, boat and donkey and are hiking many kilometres to those affected. Mobile health teams in Swat Di Khan and Buner are treating patients in flood-affected villages.

Tearfund are responding on the ground through partners SSEWA-PAK, offering food and shelter packs as immediate relief.

Age UK's response to the emergency is in partnership with Merlin, targeting the most vulnerable older people and their families in Nowshera district in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, distributing mobility aids, hearing aids, emergency health assessment kits, food and emergency households items such as flashlights, bedding and water containers.