perspective-health - Page 8

The Age Of Consent And The Borders Of Belief

ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025 marks a pivotal step toward a safer, progressive Pakistan KARACHI. Child rights organisations and advocates, along with concerned citizens, have warmly welcomed the passage of recent legislation on child marriages, describing it as a landmark step toward protecting the rights and well-being of children. “The passage of the ICT Child Marriage Restraint Act, 2025…

THE SCREEN-TIME TRAP

It’s a common scenario. A parent wants to do some chores or wants some free time for his or her self and the child may be causing disruptions or being clingy. Finding no other way to distract the child, the parent gives his/her smartphone to the child to keep them…

Prevention is Cheaper

Each year, climate-induced disasters cost Pakistan billions of dollars and push millions…

Glaucoma for Children

A nice year old Hajra visited the paediatric ophthalmology department at our…

The Children We Sacrifice

Pakistani children aren’t safe. That’s not opinion or exaggeration. It’s the bleak, burning truth we keep looking away from. They’re ignored, exploited, brutalised and abandoned on every possible front. But don’t think for a second the numbers in this piece tell the whole story. For every reported case, dozens vanish…

Fatal Corporal Punishment

The savage beating to death of a madrassa student in a Swat village, followed by a ridiculous attempt at covering it up, is a reminder of the pathetic state of education in much of the country, as unqualified teachers sadistically punish children for common negative behaviors. In the Swat incident,…

Babies Deaths

The heartbreaking loss of 20 infants — mostly newborns — at Pakpattan’s District Headquarters (DHQ) Hospital between June 16 and 22 is a damning indictment of systemic healthcare failures. While five health officials, including the Health CEO and Medical Superintendent, have been remanded, the initial inquiries reveal a tragedy rooted in layers…

Why Health Education Belongs in Our Classrooms

ISLAMABAD: Across Pakistan, children are growing up with questions they don’t know how to ask — and when they do ask, they’re often met with silence, nervous laughter, or a quick change of subject. Some questions are whispered among friends in school corridors. Some are typed quietly into search bars…

Zero Dose Children

These ‘zero-dose’ children – those who have not received any vaccinations In the last five decades, vaccinations have granted life to an estimated 154 million children around the world. A study, published in prestigious British medical journal The Lancet, while touting this marvellous feat of modern medicine, is flashing red…

Undoing a Mother’s Rights

AS our collective consciousness untangles itself from stories and headlines dense with ‘downed Rafale jets’ and ‘mun torr jawabs’, one must turn to recent Supreme Court judgements as a sobering reminder of how crucial the fight for social justice is. Deep within the shadows of societal shame is a segment…

Climate change: Students’ Woes

This will have a profound impact on long-term outcomes It is not just flooding or other disasters that are taking a toll on our schoolchildren. Increasing extreme weather events are making school a dangerous place to be for several weeks out of the year. The searing classrooms of Lahore and…

Criminalising Child Marriage

CHILD marriage persists in Pakistan for many reasons, and ending the practice requires measures that are sensitive to the problem’s complexity. Debates on child marriage tend to reduce this complexity to two opposing legal positions. Proponents of gender equality and child welfare support higher minimum age limits for child marriage…

Measles Outbreak

Measles is not a new disease. Nor is its prevention a mystery. The future of any nation rests in the hands of its children — a truth so self-evident, it should never need repeating. Yet in Pakistan, and particularly in Sindh, we are reminded all too often that the most basic…

New Polio Cases

The number of polio cases recorded this year continues to tick up, with the ninth and tenth cases confirmed this week. After several years of bouncing between double-digit caseloads and then coming within touching distance of eradication, Pakistan remains a concern for international bodies and donors — and many local experts…