Gaps - Page 3

Federal Health Minister Urges Action As Vaccination Refusals Hindering Polio Eradication

Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal has expressed serious concern over vaccine refusals, stating that nearly 43,000 parents in Sindh — 42,000 of them in Karachi alone —have refused polio vaccination for their children, posing a major obstacle to the eradication efforts. He made these remarks while visiting the Provincial Emergency Operations Centre for Polio (EOC) in Sindh to assess…

Birth Registration Of Girls Remains Low

Majority of women and girls have no legal existence in the official systems PESHAWAR: Where limited access to registration centers, particularly in remote and underserved areas, can partly explain the low birth registration rate for girls in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, the social bias that confines women to the four walls of the…

Father Tells Heartbreaking Story Of Losing Two Children In Swat Tragedy

MARDAN: A man from Mardan recounted the tragic incident at the Swat…

CII To Deliberate On Mothers Milk Registry Today

ISLAMABAD: Senior child specialists from the Sindh Institute of Child Health and…

Easier CNIC Access

NADRA’S decision to issue CNICs to first-time applicants without requiring them to produce a birth certificate is a practical step. For years, the lack of a computerised birth certificate issued by local governments, especially in rural and underserved districts, has kept thousands of citizens, mostly women, from obtaining a national…

Session Sees Heated Debate Over Facilities at Govt-Run Schools

KARACHI: Sindh Education Minister Syed Sardar Shah informed the provincial assembly that the government has allocated over Rs18 billion for schools and authorised principals to spend funds on daily needs. He was responding to questions during the education department’s Q&A session on Friday, chaired by Speaker Syed Owais Qadir Shah.…

NA Body Raises Concerns over Incomplete HIV Report from Ministry

ISLAMABAD: Reviewing the HIV situation in the country, the National Assembly Standing Committee on National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Friday raised concerns about lack of complete information in a report submitted by the health ministry. The committee specifically noted that several requested details were missing, including HIV data…

Students’ Future at Stake as Board Migration Issue Remains Unresolved

LOWER DIR: Dozens of students seeking migration to the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education Malakand are facing uncertainty after the board allegedly declined to process migration cases from other educational boards in the province, putting their academic future at risk. Speaking to local journalists at Timergara on Feb 17,…

No Convictions in 663 Child Abuse Cases in 2025

FAISALABAD: Despite hundreds of reported cases of sexual abuse against minors in Faisalabad during 2025, not a single accused in cases registered during the year has been convicted so far, according to official statistics, raising serious concerns about delays in prosecution and delivery of justice. Data revealed that 663 cases…

Health in Shambles

PAKISTAN’S health sector is no longer merely under strain, it is in complete disarray. The Pakistan Medical Association’s Health of the Nation 2026 report reveals a crisis that has long festered, is preventable and most worryingly, normalised. The numbers should jolt policymakers: 675 newborns and 27 mothers die every single…

Nearly 1m Fail to get Polio Drops amid Increase in Refusal Cases

ISLAMABAD: While around a million children were missed during the year’s first nationwide polio campaign, Karachi stood out among the cities with most number of refusal cases. A total of 53,000 refusals were reported from across the country, with 58 per cent reported from Karachi alone, during the vaccination drive,…

Rabid Dog mauls Five in Attock’s Hazro

TAXILA: At least five people were injured in a suspected rabid dog attack in the village of Hameed of Hazro town on February 8, exposing the alarming failure of local authorities to curb the growing menace of stray dogs despite repeated complaints from residents. The injured have been identified as…

Sindh Rates Poorly in Household Survey

KARACHI: A recently conducted government-commissioned survey has revealed that Punjab has better education and health facilities compared to other provinces, while Sindh and Balochistan remain the most underdeveloped province in this regard. These figures come from the Household Integrated Economic Survey 2024-25, conducted by the federal institution, the Pakistan Bureau…

Teen Shot Dead in Police Chase

PESHAWAR: A 16-year-old boy was fatally shot when police opened fire on a vehicle that failed to stop at a checkpoint in Hayatabad’s Industrial Road area, triggering outrage among locals and prompting a road blockade protest by the victim’s family. According to police and family accounts, the incident occurred when…