A child is born with thalassemia major every 90 minutes in Pakistan, but this entirely preventable disease can be eradicated within a generation through one simple step — mandatory pre-marital screening for all couples. This was the key message delivered by renowned paediatric hematologist Dr Saqib Ansari during a press conference in Karachi on Saturday, where he was joined by Dr Rahat Hussain and Nazir-ul-Hasan under the banner of the Omair Sana Foundation, ahead
Child Rights in Focus
HYDERABAD: In a major crackdown on human trafficking and bonded child labor, SSP Hyderabad Adeel Hussain Chandio launched an operation in Qasimabad and on Autobhan Road following directives from Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Zain-ul-Aabdin Memon. According to the Deputy Commissioner’s office, multiple raids were successfully carried out within the jurisdictions of police stations Bhitai Nagar, Qasimabad, GOR, and Women and Child. During the operation, 14 women were detained after failing to provide satisfactory explanations regarding
KARACHI: The Aga Khan University Hospital (AKUH) celebrated the World Immunisation Week with a series of events aimed at promoting awareness and encouraging collective action for vaccination. The World Immunisation Week (April 24 to 30) is a vital opportunity to highlight the life-saving power of vaccines and the critical role they play in protecting individuals and communities from preventable diseases. The week was observed by the Department of Paediatrics and Child Health in collaboration
RAWALPINDI: Police in the Jatli area of Rawalpindi have registered a case against two suspects and arrested one of them for allegedly sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy, filming the incident and circulating the video on social media. According to the FIR, a complainant told the police that he was informed by locals that an obscene video of his son was being shared in WhatsApp groups. He later viewed the video on a cousin’s phone,
MUZAFFARABAD: School playing fields in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) are being transformed into first aid camps for children to learn how to respond if war breaks out with India. Wearing a protective helmet and a fluorescent vest, 13-year-old Konain Bibi listened attentively to her first aid lesson. “With India threatening us, there’s a possibility of war, so well all have to support each other,” she told AFP. Pakistan has warned that it has
PESHAWAR: Experts at a two-day workshop called upon mothers to avoid formula milk and start breastfeeding to newborn babies within first hour of birth so that they could grow and stay safe from ailments. The event entitled ‘breastfeeding and baby-friendly hospital initiative (BFHI)’ was organised by paediatric department at Naseerullah Khan Babar Memorial Hospital, Peshawar. The workshop concluded on Thursday. Addressing the workshop, Dr Ziyadullah Shah, head of paediatric department, said that early initiation
The Sindh government and the World Food Programme (WFP) on 01-May-2025 decided to co-finance a one-year pilot project to provide daily meals to 11,000 District Malir primary school students up to the fifth grade to help improve their learning, attendance and nutrition. The meeting between Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah and WFP Country Director Coco Ushiyama at the CM House focused on enhancing ongoing initiatives such as the Nashonuma and Mamta programmes, and
PESHAWAR: A Girls’ Education Summit convened here by the Social Welfare and Women Development Department in collaboration with Blue Veins organization highlighted critical challenges and potential solutions for girls’ education in Kurram district. The summit placed a strong emphasis on tackling learning poverty and exploring alternative educational avenues for girls whose schooling has been disrupted by the prevailing law and order situation in Kurram. Addressing the attendees, Minister for Social Welfare and Women Development,
APRIL 30 was the International Day to End Corporal Punishment — one that could slip into obscurity unless pulled into the light with the urgency required to end cyclical, intergenerational violence. In workshops with teachers in Islamabad Capital Territory, a question of interest has been whether they themselves experienced classroom-based corporal punishment in childhood. In government schools, over 70 per cent said yes; for community schools, the response was nearly 100pc. Years later, the
Teen’s final video reveals teacher’s threats; FIR registered LODHRAN: A 10th-grade student reportedly took her own life after alleged harassment, blackmail and threats by her schoolteacher in the Gogran area of Lodhran. As per the FIR registered under Section 316 of the Pakistan Penal Code at Qureshiwala Police Station, the accused, identified as Muhammad Saqlain, has been taken into custody, and investigations are underway. The complaint was filed by Allah Bakhsh, father of the
Under Section 144, entry of unrelated persons into examination centres has been completely prohibited The annual FA and FSc examinations started across Punjab under the supervision of nine education boards, including the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Rawalpindi. Chairman BISE Rawalpindi, Muhammad Adnan Khan, along with Controller of Examinations Tanveer Asghar Awan, visited several examination centres to inspect the arrangements. On the first day, papers in Psychology, Food and Nutrition, Military Science,
Mianwali. A severe shortage of textbooks in government schools in Hafizabad district is affecting the education of students due to negligence on the part of the Punjab Textbook Board. Several weeks after the beginning of the new academic year, only 20 percent of the students in local schools have received free textbooks, while the remaining 80% are being forced to purchase the books from markets. The shortage has caused distress among parents who were