• Sindh saw highest disease burden in 2022, AKU research finds • Cases grew from 100,000 in 2012 to 3.28m in 2022 • Lead author Dr Zarmeen says dengue is no longer just a seasonal threat KARACHI: Pakistan saw over 3,000 per cent increase in dengue cases from 2012 to 2022, a new study shows, indicating that the mosquito-borne viral infection poses a greater public health challenge in the country than previously recognised. Led
Child Rights in Focus
The pain of losing a newborn child cannot be explained, only felt. The risk of this tragedy is regrettably exacerbated by both an inadequate healthcare system and dangerous social norms that push people into untimely parenthood. Proof of this inadequacy lies in recent findings relating to Tharparkar Civil Hospital – the largest government-run health facility in Tharparkar district of Sindh. According to reports, 480 newborn babies have died in the first eight months of
RAWALPINDI: A dispute over responsibility for this year’s poor Class 9 results across all nine educational boards in Punjab has intensified between the provincial Education Department and teachers’ organisations. The Education Department has placed the primary responsibility for the poor results on teachers, while teachers’ organisations have blamed the government and the department for what they described as flawed educational policies. Private schools’ organisations have also attributed part of the poor performance to teachers,
HYDERABAD: The family of 15-year-old Muhammad Umar Lashari, who died allegedly after being raped in Shikarpur on September 3, has accused police of deliberately delaying the investigation to weaken the case, while the civil hospital’s medical superintendent has raised concerns over a five-day delay in crucial DNA and chemical examination reports. Relatives of Lashari, an orphaned boy, and members of the local community staged protests on Monday and Tuesday, demanding justice for the teenager
SAHIWAL: A 16-year-old TikToker boy was allegedly gang-raped by four men after being forced to consume drug at Chak 90/9-L, tehsil Sahiwal. According to police, the victim had lost his father years ago and was living with his widowed mother. Fond of using his mobile phone, he regularly uploaded videos on his TikTok account. About a month ago, he received a call from a man, identified in the first information report (FIR), who promised
IN mainstream schools in Pakistan, challenges abound. From resource constraints to technological barriers, from limited professional development opportunities to high teacher turnover, the teaching and learning landscape has been contending with several issues. Perhaps the most urgent concern is the large classes that preclude getting to know students personally. The beauty of traditional teaching lay in the connection students had with their teachers. In developing societies like ours, this connection is critical to progress
ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Sep 7 extended greetings to the nation on International Literacy Day, acknowledging the contributions of teachers, students, parents, educationists and community workers to promoting education across the country. In his message marking the occasion on Sept 8, the president highlighted the significance of this year’s observance, which marks the 60th anniversary of International Literacy Day. Reflecting on this year’s global theme, “Literacy for
CHINIOT: Three children who were taken away by their father after the killing of their mother days back were found murdered at Chak 126-JB. The Saddar police found the bodies of Ali Nawaz (7), Saba Zahra (5) and Ummul Baneen (2) in gunny bags after digging a crop field near their house. These children were taken away by their father, Shah Nawaz Nekukara, after killing his wife and their mother, Fazeelat Bibi, on Aug
PAKISTAN’S nutrition crisis is not short of diagnosis. What it lacks is the machinery and political discipline to act on what is known. That was the most useful message to emerge from DawnMedia’s two-day Act for Nutrition conference in Islamabad, where experts argued that malnutrition cannot be confined to the health sector. Over four in 10 children under five are stunted, while the economic cost of malnutrition is estimated at $17bn annually. Planning Minister
PESHAWAR: Participants of a seminar have stressed the need for efficient and transparent utilisation of education resources, stronger monitoring and oversight, and sustained collaboration among stakeholders to ensure that budgetary investments translated into tangible improvements in girls’ access to quality of education. A post-budget seminar held here on Friday focused on the budget allocations for girls’ education in the fiscal year 2026-27, and called for gender tagging of the education budget and stronger oversight
ISLAMABAD: The tragic fire at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) gynaecology ward, which claimed the lives of 14 infants, has prompted authorities to conduct fire drills in key government offices to reinforce safety measures. On Friday, the Capital Development Authority (CDA) conducted a special fire safety mock drill at the Parliament House to assess and strengthen emergency preparedness and response mechanisms in the event of a fire or other emergency. Similarly, the Federal Constitutional
ISLAMABAD: Around 1.5 million internet-using Pakistani children aged 12 to 17 were subjected to sexual exploitation and abuse online in a single year, according to a report launched by the National Commission on the Rights of the Child (NCRC) in collaboration with UNICEF Pakistan. The Disrupting Harm in Pakistan report, funded by Safe Online and implemented by ECPAT International, INTERPOL and UNICEF, estimates that around 1.5 million internet-using children aged 12 to 17 were