ISLAMABAD: Pakistan is preparing to launch its first-ever National Vaccine Policy to kickstart local vaccine manufacturing and reduce its 95 percent reliance on imported vaccines. Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Industries and Production Haroon Akhtar Khan announced this while chairing a high-level meeting on October 23. The meeting of the Prime Minister’s Committee on Incentivizing Local Manufacturing of Vaccines, held at the Ministry of National Health Services, discussed policy formulation, existing hurdles,
Child Rights in Focus
Sindh Chief Secretary Syed Asif Haider Shah on October 23 chaired an emergency meeting at his office to review the province’s dengue situation and directed concerned departments to take immediate preventive and control measures against the rising number of cases. Officials said the meeting was attended by the commissioner Karachi, secretary local government, director general health services, all divisional commissioners, and senior health officials. According to a briefing presented by the directorate general health
KARACHI: Sindh Health and Population Welfare Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho chaired the first provincial steering committee meeting to review the arrangements for an upcoming measles-rubella vaccination campaign starting next month. The province-wide drive, targeting over 8.2 million children, is scheduled to run from Nov 17 to 29. A total of 6,000 teams are expected to take part in the campaign, during which children in selected districts will also receive oral polio drops. During
FOR more than three decades, Pakistan has fought poliovirus with collective determination, reducing cases by 99.6 per cent. Despite concerted efforts, poliovirus has survived in two countries, posing persistent risk to the health and lives of vulnerable children in Pakistan and Afghanistan. As we commemorate World Polio Day 2025, Pakistan stands at the threshold of history, with a pivotal opportunity to eradicate it completely. Through the coordinated hard work of the government, partners, and
KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on October 22 remanded a man in police custody in a case pertaining to the alleged murder of his two daughters in Block-G of North Nazimabad. The investigating officer (IO) produced the suspect, Akbar Sattar, before Judicial Magistrate (Central) Bhudo Khan Bhatti and sought his physical remand for further interrogation. During the hearing, the IO informed the court that the suspect had allegedly slit the throats of his two daughters
TOBA TEK SINGH: Kabirwala Additional District and Sessions Judge Sajjad Hussain Khan Baloch on October 22, handed down the death sentence and a fine of Rs2 million to a young man on four counts in a murder case. According to the prosecution, convict Muhammad Abbas (21) of Basti Loharan Wali in the Kabirwala Saddar police area on June 21 went to the farmland outside the locality, where he shot and killed three of his
• Emission standards critically outdated, committee told • Official says Pak-EPA lacks financial, technical resources to do its job • Senate panel urges Centre to strengthen initiatives for climate-vulnerable Gilgit-Baltistan • Calls for sharing of early-warning data for disaster prevention in northern areas ISLAMABAD / GILGIT: Critical inadequacies in Pakistan’s environmental oversight were highlighted on October 22, after a parliamentary committee heard that emission standards remain frozen at Euro-II levels, a benchmark long-abandoned by
KARACHI: The unnecessary use of steroid-containing rash creams on children’s delicate skin is triggering serious health risks, including Cushing’s syndrome, immune suppression, and organ damage. Dr Liaqat Ali, Additional MS (OPD Incharge) and pediatrician at Civil Hospital Karachi, told The Express Tribune that rash creams fall into three categories for skin diseases, beauty creams, and creams used on children. He said many mothers, when visiting hospitals for diarrhea complaints, report using steroid creams on
A disturbing incident of corporal punishment surfaced in the Kallar Syedan area of Islamabad, where a teacher at a private school brutally beat a student for not memorising his Quran lesson. After a video of the assault went viral on social media, police launched an investigation, registered a case, and arrested the teacher. According to the police, the case was filed on the complaint of Constable Kamran Yaqoob, who was on security duty in
Islamabad:The provincial governments of Punjab, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Sindh have pledged to continue reforms on addressing child marriage, birth registration, child protection, gender-based violence (GBV) and social inclusion. The UK’s Aawaz II programme, which started in 2017, has supported pilots such as the Anti-Rape Crisis Cells, District Child Protection Units and Women Protection Centres (WPC) which the provincial governments are now using as models to scale and expand. The innovative digital birth registration model,
ISLAMABAD: Minister of State for Health Dr Mukhtar Bharat on October 21 claimed that the government would take all possible steps to devise a policy to improve child nutrition and maternal health. Addressing an awareness seminar on the harms of formula milk, Dr Bharat said formula milk had negative impacts and urged media to play a role in creating public awareness on this important issue. “Formula milk does not contain the same nutrients as
CHINIOT: The district education officer (DEO) suspended from service the headmistress, a teacher and a watchman of the Government Model Primary School, Chah Bootianwala, for allowing a wedding function at the school, where transpersons allegedly performed “obscene” dances. Taking action on a footage of the wedding event surfacing on social media, Elementary Education DEO Ms Khadeeja Bokhari suspended from service Headmistress Muqaddas Iqbal, teacher Samina Batool and watchman Syed Ali Raza. In their suspension