Health

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Monday expressed the hope that Pakistan would soon become a “polio-free” country as only one case of the paralysing disease was reported in the country during the current year. The prime minister kicked off the polio eradication campaign by administering vaccination drops to some children. He expressed satisfaction over sharp decline in new polio …

ISLAMABAD: While the government continues to make efforts to create awareness among citizens about the need to get vaccinated, around 300,000 recipients of the first dose never returned to receive their second jab of the Covid-19 vaccine. Minister for Planning, Development and Special Initiatives Asad Umar, who also heads the National Command and Operation Centre (NCOC), said a call centre …

BAJAUR: Both the public and private educational institutions reopened in Bajaur tribal district on Monday after the Covid-19 positivity rate dropped below five per cent in the region. The institutions were shut on April 24 due to a surge in coronavirus cases. According to separate statements issued from the district administration and the education department, all the educational institutions across …

GENEVA: The United Nations said on Monday that the Covid-19 pandemic’s impact on the world of work was four times worse than the 2008 economic crisis. The UN’s International Labour Organisation (ILO) said the pandemic had had a “devastating” and even “cataclysmic” effect, as it sought to tackle an uneven recovery from the coronavirus crisis. The ILO on Monday kicked …

GENEVA: The WHO on Monday called for Covid-19 vaccine manufacturers to give Covax first refusal on new doses, or commit half of their volumes to the global jab equity scheme. World Health Organisation Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said manufacturers should turn their attention to the Covax facility, which has struggled to get donation-funded doses to poorer countries. Tedros voiced …

One hundred former presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers have urged the Group of Seven (G7) rich nations to pay for global coronavirus vaccinations to help stop the virus mutating and returning as a worldwide threat. The leaders made their appeal ahead of a G7 summit in England which begins on Friday, when U.S. President Joe Biden will meet the …

TAXILA: Officials of the district administration and health department have convinced nomad families to allow them to administer polio drops to their children below the age of five years. A large number of nomad families living in mud houses near Hazro had been refusing to administer anti-polio drops to their children due to misconceptions. The refusal by these over 20 …

ISLAMABAD: The United Nations Children’s Emergency Fund (Unicef) has expressed its deep concern over recent incidents of landmine explosions in various parts of Pakistan, resulting in the deaths of and injuries to children. “Unicef is deeply concerned by the death of three children, age 10 to 16, who were reportedly killed in the detonation of a landmine in South Waziristan, one of …

ISLAMABAD: With around 420,000 people having been completely or partially vaccinated in the federal capital, health authorities are aiming to administer 25,000 doses of the Covid-19 vaccine daily. On the other hand, Islamabad reported 74 more cases with the positivity rate falling to 1.5pc whereas Rawalpindi district saw two patients succumbing to the virus and another 28 getting infected. As …

Ali Akbar Mohtashamipour, a Shia cleric who as Iran’s ambassador to Syria helped found Hezbollah and lost his right hand to a book bombing reportedly carried out by Israel, died on Monday of the coronavirus. He was 74. A close ally of Iran’s late Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini, Mohtashamipour formed alliances with Muslim militant groups across the Mideast in …