Index of Freedom from‘Fear’ Overall, most of the health numbers have shown a rising trend, although they are still low by international standards and were affected by COVID-19. There has been a sizeable improvement over the two decades in the Index of Health Hazards and Diseases of over 72%. 6.5 Environmental Protection and Natural Disasters Pakistan has witnessed a number of major national disasters during the last two decades, as shown in Chart 6.6. Chart 6.6: Incidence and Costs of Major Natural Disasters The recent floods of 2022 are the worst natural disaster in the history of Pakistan. Over 33 million people have been affected. Also, 12% of the crop output in the Kharif season has been destroyed. Estimates are that the total cost to the economy is over$30 billion. Consequently, the health hazards index has fallen by over 16% in 2020-21. Three indicators of environmental protection, including the forest area, level of water stress, and renewable water resources per capita, also show sizeable declines, according to Table 6.5. Overall, the index of Environmental Protection has fallen by almost 40% since 2001- 02. This is a critical area for future human security in Pakistan. 43