ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s monsoon floods have already claimed 910 lives and injured more than 1,000 people, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Officials and health experts warn, however, that the deadliest phase of the disaster may only just be beginning. Outbreaks of dengue, malaria, diarrhoea and other diseases now threaten to claim even more lives than the floods themselves. According to WHO’s Health Emergency: Situation Report #8 – Monsoon and Floods 2025, the deluge
Child Rights in Focus
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah on September 07 met the United Nations Children’s Fund’s (Unicef) new Pakistan representative, Pernille Ironside. He welcomed her and expressed the hope that the partnership between his government and Unicef would grow stronger during her term. The meeting was held at the CM House and attended by Principal Secretary to CM Agha Wasif and Secretary to CM Raheem Shaikh along with Unicef Karachi Chief Field Officer Prem
KARACHI: A judicial magistrate on Monday granted bail to a man and his wife who were arrested for allegedly burning their teenage maid with an electric iron at their home. The couple, identified as Shahroz Muhammad Ali and Kanwal, were arrested on September 7 by the Ferozabad police, which registered a case against them under Sections 328-A (cruelty to a child) and 337-A (i) (shajjah) of the Pakistan Penal Code read with Section 14-(1)
ISLAMABAD: Many children are forced to drop out of school to support their families economically. By linking education with skills, such children can be brought back to classrooms as parents will see both education and long-term livelihood opportunities for their children. This was stated by Minister of State for Federal Education and Professional Training Wajiha Qamar on September 07 while speaking at a ceremony on ‘Promoting Literacy through Digitalisation’ in collaboration with the Ministry
Rawalpindi: Heavy rains and floods have increased the malariogenic potential of the country in both urban and rural areas and according to health experts, the threat of spread of malaria looms large in flood-hit areas even in major cities including the twin cities. Malaria is a life-threatening disease caused by a parasite transmitted to humans by the bites of infected anopheles mosquitoes. The stagnant water in flood-hit areas provides ideal breeding sites for anopheles
CHAKDARA: The body of a nine-year-old boy, who had been missing since September 06, was recovered from a nearby mountain in the Badwan area of Chakdara on Sunday. The body of 9-year-old Afaan was shifted to Chakdara Hospital for post-mortem examination after being informed by the local residents. According to police officials, the child was brutally killed after being struck with stones. SHO Fazal Ghafoor said that a case has been registered and investigations
Sindh Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani has said that without doctors and engineers, life in this world would be impossible, as humanity would be reduced to living like animals. Speaking at a seminar and health carnival organised by Dr Shireen Bhutta Centre of Excellence for Women’s Health & Research on September 06, Ghani said that while the provincial government has done significant work in the health sector, there is still a great deal more
Islamabad: At the start of the new academic session, students of government colleges in Islamabad Capital Territory are once again grappling with acute accommodation problems in the most expensive capital city. The absence of on-campus hostels has left many young learners from far-flung areas with no choice but to rent costly private rooms or live in substandard private hostels. The city’s two largest institutions, including Islamabad Model College for Boys H-9 and Islamabad Model
MINGORA: Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf-Parliamentarians (PTIP) provincial Vice Chairman Aziz-ul-Haq on September 07 asked the National Accountability Bureau and the Anti-Corruption Establishment to launch an investigation into the alleged irregularities at the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education (BISE) Swat. Speaking at a press conference, he alleged that the BISE Swat had turned into a hub of corruption for those at the helm of affairs. Senior PTIP leaders, including Mian Syed Naeem Khan and Mehboob-ur-Rehman, were
Pakistan has once again launched a nationwide polio eradication campaign, aiming to vaccinate more than 28 million children under the age of five across 99 districts. In just the first five days (the campaign started last Monday), 18 million children were vaccinated – a promising figure, but still short of the scale required to contain the virus. The urgency is clear: since the beginning of this year, 24 polio cases have been confirmed, with
A SCHOOL administrator recently remarked in a tone of resignation that these days many parents would rather have their children remain occupied with academic work than risk letting them venture outside. “The world beyond the gate,” she said, “is no longer safe.” Streets feel more chaotic, parks feel less secure, and neighbourhoods, once considered havens of community life, now come with their own anxieties. One can understand the sentiment. There is a certain reassurance
ISLAMABAD: Chronic obesity is silently killing and crippling thousands of relatively young Pakistanis every year, with new evidence showing that more than 100 million adults are now overweight or obese. This was stated by national and international health experts at a moot in Islamabad. They said the disease was fueling an alarming rise in diabetes, heart attacks, strokes, cancers, infertility and obstructive sleep apnea. They stressed that without urgent interventions, Pakistan will face an