HYDERABAD: A case has been registered at the Baldia police station against two doctors and other staffers of a private hospital for negligently declaring a healthy newborn dead. The FIR has been registered on the complaint of the father, Muhammad Rafiq Bhayo, a resident of Muhammad Bux Shoro village of District Qasimabad. The complainant has said that on October 28 his wife was admitted for delivery in private hospital where she gave birth to
Child Rights in Focus
Misconceptions Rise as Polio Cases Surge Across Pakistan
November 4, 2024
ISLAMABAD: Fed up with Pakistan’s rising polio cases, health authorities across provinces are increasingly attributing the spread of the virus to a range of unique factors, including malnutrition, gaps in Routine Immunization (RI), parental refusals, and, most recently, paralysis linked to injection neuritis a theory recently posited by health officials in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP). In KP, health officials have highlighted the phenomenon of injection neuritis which occurs when untrained practitioners, or quacks, incorrectly administer
QUETTA: A bomb blast near a girls’ high school in Mastung, Balochistan, claimed the lives of nine people, including six schoolchildren, a police officer, and two passers-by. Thirty others were injured. The explosive device, planted on a motorcycle, exploded with great force, damaging several cars. Following the blast, eleven of the injured were shifted to the Trauma Centre at Quetta’s Civil Hospital, where many were reported in critical condition. Police, local authorities, Bomb Disposal
Teenager Assaulted
November 3, 2024
LAHORE: An accused on 01-November-2024 assaulted a teenage girl in the Shad Bagh area. According to Shad Bagh police, accused Rohit alias Chitta barged into the house of a 17-year-old girl with his accomplices and assaulted her, and took away 1.5 tola gold jewellery and Rs200,000. The police registered the case and arrested the accused. According to police sources, both the accused and the victim belong to the Christian community and are acquainted with
Balochistan Govt Urged For Steps To Address Malnutrition In Kids
November 2, 2024
QUETTA: Civil society leaders and social activists have called on the government to take concrete steps to improve nutrition for malnourished children and ensure policies that support farmers who provide healthy food to communities. Speaking at a seminar organised by Hope Balochistan, in collaboration with Welthungerhilfe, a non-governmental organisation in Germany, to mark the World Food Day on 30th Oct, they said that not only the government, but members of civil society should also
Centre, KP Unite To Combat Polio After 43 Cases Reported
November 2, 2024
ISLAMABAD: In light of 43 polio cases reported across the country so far this year, the federal and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa governments met on 31st October to devise a strategy for eradicating the virus responsible for the crippling disease. Emphasising accountability, the meeting decided to have a zero-tolerance policy against fake finger marking, with strict measures to address any violations. According to a statement issued by the Ministry of National Health Services (NHS), the joint campaign
Child Marriages Plague Impoverished Girls
November 2, 2024
Poverty, cultural norms continue to henna stain the hands of female children way before their age of consent KARACHI.Although the national obsession with female matrimony is enough to pressurize even elite parents to expedite their search for a son-in-law, for low-income families, marrying off a teenage daughter means having one less mouth to feed. Therefore, child marriages have emerged as a reprehensible yet critical survival strategy for the indigenous communities in rural Sindh. In
Parents Opt For Tent Schools Over Privatised Education
November 2, 2024
Residents have set up a temporary school with volunteer teachers RAWALPINDI: Families in Sumbul Syedan village, Murree, have withdrawn their daughters from schools recently handed over to NGOs, opting instead to educate them in makeshift tent schools. Unhappy with the former Government Primary Girls School’s privatisation, residents set up a temporary school with volunteer teachers in a tented open area to avoid sending their daughters back to the NGO-operated institution. A resident, Syed Zafar
ISLAMABAD: Around 20-25 percent of children in Pakistan never receive even a single drop of their mother’s milk, primarily due to misconceptions and a lack of awareness among women and their families, who often consider breast milk to be either less nutritious or even harmful, leading child health and nutrition expert Prof. Zulfiqar Bhutta said citing the National Nutritional Survey 2018. “Besides poverty, lack of awareness is a major driver of undernutrition in many
KARACHI: Expressing concern over rising maternal mortalities and health complications due to unsafe abortions, speakers at the launch of a study on 30th October called for making reproductive healthcare services safe and accessible across Pakistan which saw 3.8 million abortions in 2023 from 2.25m in 2012 — a 56 percent increase since 2012. They were speaking at the launch of the study titled ‘Safeguarding Women’s Health: Trends, Inequities, and Opportunities in Pakistan’s Abortion and
Tuberculosis Cases Hit Record High, Says WHO
November 1, 2024
GENEVA: A record 8.2 million new tuberculosis cases were diagnosed worldwide last year, the World Health Organisation said — the highest number since it began global TB monitoring in 1995. The WHO said its Global Tuberculosis Report 2024, released on Tuesday, highlights “mixed progress in the global fight against TB, with persistent challenges such as significant underfunding”. While the number of TB-related deaths declined from 1.32 million in 2022 to 1.25m last year, the
Three-day School Closure Possible in Lahore Amid Worsening Smog
November 1, 2024
Lahore schools considering schedule changes to prioritise the health of children Lahore: A three-day school closure and potential schedule adjustments in Lahore is being considered as the city grapples with deteriorating air quality, local officials announced. Amid severe smog conditions, schools could close on Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays to reduce health risks, pending a review by the environmental authorities, Express News reported. The Punjab Environmental Protection Agency spokesperson said a decision is expected following