The new AC has ambitious plans to clean the largest tehsil of the Hunza District from pollution and substandard food items By Asif Sakhi GOJAL: In an unprecedented move, the administration of Gojal Sub-Division has taken swift action against the shop owners for selling unhygienic and spurious consumer items in the region. The locals have welcomed the action terming it …

Gul Hamad Farooqi Last month eight members of a poor workers’ family – two brothers, their mother, wives, and three children – perished when their house caught fire after a gas cylinder blast in Ayun, upper Chitral.  They were brought to the District Headquarters Hospital Chitral but couldn’t be provided treatment due to a lack of facilities and staff. The …

Two young auto-workers at work vulnerable to hazards. Photo by the writer. Gul Hammad Farooqi CHITRAL: The child labour in extreme unsafe environment has become a norm in Chitral as young mechanics, often of tender ages, are forced to work in auto-repair shops without safety gears. The practice has rendered a large number of children prone to hazards related to …

Every year about 800,000 people take their own life — 11.4 people per 100,000 population and in Pakistan, it is 1.4 per 100,000, say reports and experts Herald Report Suicide is the 15th leading cause of death globally and around 11.4 people per 100,000 population kill themselves every year and in Pakistan, it is 1.4 persons per 100,000 population. Every …

Women in Pakistan sew sanitary pads to break period taboo for girls BOONI (Chitral): Bent over her hand-crank sewing machine, Hajra Bibi stitches sanitary pads for the women of her mountainous village in northwestern Pakistan, one of many rural areas in the deeply conservative country where periods are still taboo. “I am responding to a crisis,” said the 35-year-old mother, …

YDA, PMA observe August 26 as ‘black day’ against the attitude of health authorities, give 10-day ultimatum to government to accept five-point charter of demands, enforce regularisation act by Inayat Abadali Gilgit: Young Doctors Association (YDA) and Pakistan Medical Association GB chapters observed ‘black day’ against what they called exploitation of the young professionals, ‘irresponsible’ attitude of health department bureaucrats …

Professional bodies of teachers, students, workers, doctors and political activists reject IMF’s bailout  prescriptions, cut in PSDP Herald Report Academics, students, workers, young doctors and progressive activists have rejected the proposed plan of privatisation of key sectors of education, health and cut in education budget.  The recent decisions of privatizing health sectors and cut in budget for Higher Education Commission …

Anayat Baig tells a tragic story of neglect, inequality and superbugs Pakistan is facing world’s largest extremely drug resistant (XDR) typhoid outbreak. More than 5,000 cases were reported from Hyderabad and Karachi in the first phase. To give the reader an idea of the rise of the scale of this outbreak consider the following: Some 11 cases were reported in …

HAH Report Kabul: The Aga Khan Health Services (AKHS) has taken over management of health care facilities in the Bamyan and Badakhshan provinces of Afghanistan. An agreement to this effect was signed at the Afghanistan’s Ministry of Public Health the other day. Through the project, AKHS will now manage over 1,015 health posts in villages, 158 basic and primary health …

These three habits help your body, and also have a positive impact on your brain. By Tara Swart You might think that the impact of aging on the brain is something you can’t do much about. After all, isn’t it an inevitability? To an extent, as we may not be able to rewind the clock and change our levels of …