RABIES has consistently emerged as a lethal yet overlooked health concern. Reportedly, the scourge took 22 lives in Sindh this year. Figures from three tertiary care hospitals in Karachi reveal an alarming spike in dog-bite incidents, taking the year’s reported tally to over 42,000 cases. The Indus Hospital
EVERY announcement of a vaccination campaign reflects Pakistan’s recognition of the polio problem and a resolve to defeat the crippling virus. Health Minister Mustafa Kamal has launched the final nationwide polio drive of 2025 with the goal to immunise over 45m children. The minister said that the number
There is something deeply tragic about how the world of numbers works. On paper, cutting off international aid to stimulate the local economy seems a plausible measure. But, in reality, the effects of such cuts are devastating and almost irreversible. At a time when the world should be
THE lidless manholes in Karachi lay bare the failure of the city administration to provide even the bare necessities of daily living to residents. This week, a regular shopping trip left another family scarred for life. A manhole near Nipa in Gulshan-i-Iqbal swallowed their toddler, Ibrahim; his body
Every morning, millions of children walk into schools across Pakistan with hopes, dreams and a desire to learn. Yet, behind these school walls, many face risks that threaten not only their education but their safety, dignity, and emotional well-being. Safeguarding our children in educational institutions is no longer
EACH year, World AIDS Day arrives with new statistics but an old question: why is HIV/AIDS still a critical problem? Despite decades of interventions, glaring inequalities and complacency remain the primary reasons for the elevated numbers. UNAIDS says 40.8m people are living with HIV globally, 9.2m are not
This year on Universal Children’s Day, as Pakistan prepares for its 2025 review by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child, I’m forced to reflect on a 35-year-old promise. In 1990, Pakistan was one of the six initiators of the World Summit for Children, a champion
THE rising abuse of an anticonvulsant medication in the market is destroying the lives of the country’s youth. The drug, whose generic name is pregabalin and which is available under different brand names, decreases the number of pain signals that are sent out by damaged nerves in the
WORLD Children’s Day is upon us, yet countless children are denied even simple rights that should never be in question. This year’s call to “listen to children and stand up for their rights” feels painfully apt. Millions of children wake up each day to fear and uncertainty. In
At some point in their lives, those who call this country home would have had to go through the experience of being outside when nature calls in the full knowledge that there are few, if any, public toilets nearby. While most men would still be able to make
LAHORE: The phrase “climate change” usually brings to mind flooded plains, destroyed crops and lost livelihoods. Yet the true victims of natural calamities are the children whose hopes for the future are washed away by melting glaciers. Fourteen-year-old Ayesha has witnessed climate disasters terrible enough to drain the
WORLD Diabetes Day arrives as new research sheds light on the extent of discrimination Pakistanis living with diabetes encounter — including children who will eventually become part of a workforce unprepared to support them. The International Diabetes Federation’s latest survey, placing Pakistan at the top of global workplace