Seven-year-old Muhammad Aban, from a poor family and currently admitted to Benazir Children’s Hospital in Mardan (BCHM), longs to play with other children but is too weak due to complications from thalassaemia. Diagnosed when he was just 11 months old, he needs two to three blood transfusions every
DEVASTATING floods are now an annual emergency in Pakistan. Climate change is hitting hard, manifesting in new weather patterns including cloudbursts. Sudden torrential rainfall, which continues relentlessly, can literally move mountains. This phenomenon was observed in many places in the northern parts of the country. The gushing water sweeps away
Pakistan is home to over 53 million boys under 18, forming a significant part of its 106 million child population. Yet, challenges remain acute: nearly 27% of boys aged 5–16 are out of school, and an estimated 3.4 million children are engaged in child labour, with boys forming
Pakistan is on the cusp of a major public health breakthrough. From September 15 to 27, the country will launch its first-ever national HPV vaccination campaign – an ambitious yet necessary initiative aimed at protecting millions of girls from cervical cancer, a disease that claims thousands of lives
A MIX of natural calamities, terrorism and bureaucratic ineptitude has resulted in difficulties for students in KP’s Khyber tribal district. In fact, the situation in Khyber reminds us of the disruptions in education that tens of thousands of school-age children face across Pakistan because of floods and militancy.
THE federal cabinet’s decision to declare a climate and agriculture emergency in the country was overdue given the magnitude of devastation resulting from the floods sweeping across Punjab and beyond. The images of inundated fields in thousands of villages, displaced families, destroyed homes and dead livestock underscore the seriousness of the catastrophe.
WE in South Asia are the children of the monsoon, as described by David Jiménez in his 2008 book. While governments may not always recognise it, we are bound by an ecosystem that inextricably links our resilience through shared climate realities from one end of South Asia to
Much of the debate surrounding the ongoing monsoon floods has centred around whether the state is doing or has done enough to prevent flooding. Do we need more dams? Are the country’s rescue and warning systems good enough? What are we going to do to rehabilitate the victims
EVERY $1 invested in nutrition yields $23 in economic returns according to global studies. This is particularly true when that investment happens early, from conception to two years of age, when the brain and body grow at their fastest, requiring adequate amounts of essential nutrients. The returns are
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
Each year, climate-induced disasters cost Pakistan billions of dollars and push millions into deeper poverty. Yet our policies remain stuck in a reactive cycle, waiting for the damage to occur, then scrambling with relief. This approach is not only costly but also destructive to development gains. Prevention is
Antibiotics are among humanity’s most remarkable discoveries, emerging unexpectedly over the past century. The credit for this groundbreaking development goes to the Scottish physician and microbiologist, Alexander Fleming, who was studying fungi in 1928 when he inadvertently discovered what we now know as antibiotics. Following the discovery of