ISLAMABAD: Polio cases continue to rise as the country reported three new cases on 2nd December, bringing the tally so far this year to 59. According to an official, the Regional Reference Laboratory for Polio Eradication confirmed the detection of one case each of poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) in Dera Ismail Khan, Karachi and Kashmore. “The genetic sequencing of the samples collected from the children shows that they are genetically linked to the same WPV1 virus
Child Rights in Focus
KARACHI: In a groundbreaking medical achievement, a team of doctors at the National Institute of Child Health (NICH) in Karachi successfully operated on two-month-old conjoined twins, Naila and Shumaila, hailing from Naushahro Feroze, Sindh. The surgery, which lasted for ten hours, was a collaborative effort between specialists from NICH, NICVD, and SICH. According to Director NICH, Dr Nasir Suddle, the health of the twins is now improving steadily. “The surgery was a complex and
KARACHI: The province of Sindh has been declared “maternal and neonatal tetanus-free” by international experts. A debriefing session held on Monday at a local hotel was chaired by Sindh Health Secretary Rehan Iqbal Baloch and attended by officials from the federal directorate of Immunisation, EPI-Sindh, Unicef, World Health Organisation (WHO) and others. During the meeting, the validation mission led by Dr Nasir Yusuf of the WHO shared relevant data of the sampling districts of
LOWER DIR: Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Malakand Chairman Mohammad Nasim Khan stated that no nation could develop and progress without providing quality education to its children. He was addressing a function after inaugurating a private educational institution at Shehzadi as chief guest here on Sunday. The function was also addressed by the Additional Deputy Commissioner Bashir Khan, divisional president of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan (HRCP) Abdul Ghaffar Khan, religious
SAHIWAL: Arifwala City police arrested a teenage boy on 1st December for raping and murdering his five-year-old relative near Gillani Housing Society, Chak 63/EB. The body of a five-year-old missing boy was found in a field. Reports said the child had been missing from Bhatta No 2 locality in Arifwala city since Saturday morning. The villagers found a mutilated body on Sunday and alerted police. Later, the body was identified to be that of
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has said healthcare is a fundamental human right and acknowledged the growing HIV epidemic in Pakistan, according to an official news agency. In his message on World AIDS Day, the PM called for bold, innovative, and sustainable interventions to address the challenge, PPI reported. He reaffirmed Pakistan’s commitment to strengthening the national HIV response and aligning it with global efforts to eradicate the disease. Mr Sharif emphasised the importance of upholding
Child workers in Pakistan face abuse, exploitation, and neglect. Stricter laws and actions are essential The suffering of child workers, especially in domestic households, is a harsh reminder of society’s failure to protect its most vulnerable members. In Pakistan, many children face severe physical and mental abuse, with their pain often hidden beneath layers of social inequality and apathy. The tragic stories of Rizwana, a 14-year-old girl employed as a domestic caregiver, and Fatima
New guidelines ‘to ensure discipline and transparency’ RAWALPINDI: The Punjab School Education Department has introduced guidelines to ensure discipline and transparency in government schools. District and tehsil education officers and school heads have been instructed to enforce these measures strictly. According to a circular issued by the department, the use of mobile phones during teaching hours has been banned for teachers, students, and non-teaching staff. Teachers are required to keep their phones on silent
Less than 5% of deaf children of school age in Pakistan attend school ISLAMABAD: Less than 5% of deaf children of school age in Pakistan attend school, reflecting the significant barriers they face in accessing education. Globally, the situation is similarly dire, with the World Federation of the Deaf estimating that 80% of the approximately 70 million deaf individuals worldwide have no access to education. In Pakistan, approximately 1.2 out of every 1,000 children
LAHORE: Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz has directed to launch Pakistan’s first-ever project to provide free insulin to children born with diabetes. “Little children are like flowers, they will not be allowed to wither,” said Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz Sharif while directing the authorities concerned to launch the Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz Insulin Program to provide free insulin to Type-1 diabetic children at their homes, for which the registration process has started. She
Islamabad: Planning and Development Minister Ahsan Iqbal called for public sector schools to be equipped with the necessary resources to teach essential skills, ensuring that the proposed reforms deliver broad societal benefits. During a meeting about the Teacher Training Institute, the minister underscored the urgent need for education reforms to better prepare youth for the challenges of the future. The meeting was attended by senior officials, including the secretary and additional secretary of the
LAHORE: More than 860 children have undergone successful heart surgeries since the launch of the Chief Minister’s Children’s Heart Surgery Programme. Punjab Health Minister Khawaja Salman Rafique shared this information in a meeting on 30-November-2024. He shared this milestone during a meeting on the programme’s referral system held at the Punjab Health Initiative Management Company on 30-November-2024. In the meeting, the health minister reviewed the referral system in detail. The Punjab Information Technology Board