LAHORE: Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) coordinator and Punjab polio programme head Khizer Afzaal has said the health teams have been missing children in the vaccination campaigns due to poor planning and low-quality micro-plans resulting in consistent positive environmental samples in Lahore and Rawalpindi districts. Presiding over a meeting held to review the polio campaigns launched in 15 districts of Punjab here on Friday, he expressed his utter displeasure and concern over the practice of
Child Rights in Focus
RAWALPINDI: The Rawalpindi district courts are witnessing a significant rise in parent-child meetings, largely due to the alarming increase in divorce cases. These meetings, once held bi-weekly, have now become a daily occurrence, with 25 to 37 families arriving at the judicial complex each day to see their children. Previously, under family court orders, visits were limited to twice a week. However, the growing number of divorces has pushed the need for more frequent
KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has reiterated his government’s commitment to eradicating polio. In a meeting with a delegation of Rotary Foundation headed by its Chairman Mark Maloney, the CM said, “In the wake of cross-border travel from neighbouring countries, Sindh continues to face risk of poliovirus. We are confident that our efforts towards polio eradication yield positive results.” The CM thanked the Rotary Foundation for their support in Pakistan against
KARACHI: Apropos the letter “Ghost Teachers” published on September 19, 2024, the issue of ghost schools is another sad reality in Pakistan’s education system. These schools exist only in name, with buildings left abandoned and teachers still collecting salaries without fulfilling their responsibilities. However, the problem goes beyond just missing educators. The rise of child labour in the country is alarming, and it is hard not to connect it with the state of these
The Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) launched a four-day “Training of Trainers” (TOT) program for officers from PTA, UNICEF, Telenor Pakistan, the National Commission on the Rights of Child (NCRC), and the NCERT. This initiative is part of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed with UNICEF Pakistan and reflects PTA’s commitment to Child Online Protection. The program aims to raise awareness about the online risks children face and equip officers with the tools to help
DEPIx is a comprehensive tool that measures the performance of education systems at the district level, focusing on key outcomes such as access, learning, and equity, processes such as governance, and inputs like public financing and infrastructure. The DEPIx is structured across five domains: Infrastructure & Access, Learning, Inclusion (Equity & Technology), Governance & Management, and Public Financing. It covers 134 districts across Pakistan, including Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Punjab, Sindh, and the Islamabad
QUETTA: Police on 18 September 2024 arrested a private school principal and a warden allegedly involved in child molestation. Police told The Express Tribune that the accused had subjected five children to sexual abuse in the Dera Allah Yar town of Balochistan. Moreover, the local authorities have sealed both the school and the hostel following a formal complaint lodged by parents and students. The incident was exposed when five students from Shaheen Force Residential
GUJAR KHAN: District Health Authority Rawalpindi has suspended three medical officers posted in Tehsil Headquarters Hospital (THQ) Gujar Khan over ‘misconduct’ after the baby of an admitted pregnant woman reportedly died before delivery on 18th October 2024. According to local sources, Ayesha Ali was admitted to the gynae ward of the THQ Hospital in Gujar Khan on September 16 for childbirth, and was referred to another hospital in Rawalpindi on Wednesday morning by on-duty
BAHAWALPUR: A seven-year-old maid, who had allegedly been subjected to rape three weeks ago in Shah Rukn-i-Alam police precincts (Multan), succumbed to her wounds on September, 16. Complainant ‘S’ had alleged that her daughter was sexually assaulted at her workplace due to which she fell ill. At this police had registered a rape case and shifted the girl from children’s hospital, Multan, to Nishtar Hospital where she remained under treatment for three weeks and
KARACHI: The annual cycling event titled “Ride. Bike. Save Lives. 2024” organised by the Indus Hospital and Health Network (IHHN) on 15th September 2024 attracted a large number of enthusiasts from across the city. The event was held in collaboration with Critical Mass Karachi (CMK) and Port Grand. This year’s ride was dedicated to raising awareness for Childhood Cancer. “This cause is very close to IHHN’s mission of providing free-of-cost, quality healthcare to the
KARACHI: Born this year in March, Musa spent several days in a hospital incubator, fighting multiple health complications, before he got reunited with his mother. Over a month later, he gradually developed an eye illness that doctors described as ROP (Retinopathy of Prematurity), a vision-threatening disease and one of the most common causes of childhood blindness in Pakistan. “Being a premature baby, Musa was too weak. At the time of discharge from the hospital,
LAHORE: Anticipating the abrupt shift of the global economy towards complete digitalization, several developing countries in the Global South started heavily investing in the Information Technology (IT) sector several years ago, in the hopes of directing billions of dollars towards their economies in the future. From cities across the region, often referred to as the Silicon Valleys of their respective countries, a large number of IT professionals were encouraged towards contributing to the development