KARACHI: Pakistan’s economic debate rarely strays far from familiar territory. Inflation, public debt, exports, taxation and the energy crisis dominate political speeches and newspaper headlines alike. These are undoubtedly pressing concerns for a country grappling with recurring fiscal instability. Yet beneath these visible economic challenges lies another crisis
PAKISTAN’s presence among countries with the fastest-growing HIV epidemic in Asia is a matter of shame. Globally, the virus is found in drug addicts, sex workers and other high-risk sections. What makes our crisis more distressing is the victims’ profile: children and low-risk groups who have been infected
THE Sindh government’s agreement with the World Bank to combine health, nutrition, sanitation, social protection and agriculture programmes acknowledges that child stunting cannot be treated by the health department alone. The proposed secretariat, district committees and dashboard could replace scattered schemes with targets and accountability. But institutional architecture
THE deaths of 144 children from measles and diphtheria in Karachi during the first seven months of the year expose a grave failure of routine immunisation. That failure is evident in the large number of children who receive their earliest vaccines but are never brought back for the
EVERY year in August, Breastfeeding Week arrives with the same kind of messaging all over the media: ‘breastfeeding is best’. That is where the conversation begins and ends. This year, the World Alliance for Breastfeeding Action, alongside Unicef and the WHO, has deliberately questioned the math behind it
A PROJECTION that Pakistan’s population could reach 400m by 2040 should not be treated as another dramatic number to be quoted at ceremonies and forgotten by the next budget. It is a warning about the size of the state’s future obligations. Every additional child will need vaccination, nutrition,
THE HIV infections detected around two SESSI-run hospitals in Karachi demand far more than another hurried committee and a seven-day report. Ten people have tested positive near the Landhi facility, while screening around Valika Hospital has identified 120 cases, including children. These figures do not by themselves prove
THE floods are visiting us again. The death toll will be counted within days. The damage to roads, bridges and embankments will be tallied within weeks and translated into a dollar figure. Expect this assessment to dominate the coverage. It is legitimate but a wrong ledger regardless. The
From Taunsa, to Ratodero and now Karachi. It seems like there is not a town or city left in Pakistan where the country’s children are safe from HIV, one of the most dangerous diseases in the world. Last week, the Sindh labour minister reportedly confirmed that at least
Karachi is once again mobilising its army of 26,000 polio workers and thousands of police escorts – this time with an aim to vaccinate over 2.5 million children within six days. The resolve to launch this Herculean feat is impressive, and also quite familiar. For over three decades,
During the fiscal year 2025-26, Pakistan’s economy demonstrated significant resilience and restored macroeconomic stability, achieving a provisional GDP growth rate of 3.70 percent compared to 3.18 percent the previous year. This positive trajectory was driven by a robust recovery across all major economic sectors, with agriculture expanding by
The magnitude of drug abuse among students in Karachi continues to get worse, despite intervention efforts by the government and social welfare groups. While reliable data is hard to come by due to taboos around the subject, a 2024 survey by the Pakistan Narcotics Control Board found that