ISLAMABAD – Despite the 18-month COVID-19 pandemic, Pakistan and Afghanistan have observed a sharp decline in polio cases which the health authorities attribute to their effective back-to-back anti-polio drives. Officials leading the polio eradication programme believe that the decline occurred due to uninterrupted polio vaccination campaigns, improved security and the polio field teams’ accessibility to […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD – Pakistan health authorities are struggling to fully implement a World Health Organization (WHO) treaty to help reduce tobacco-related diseases in the country – some 17 years after they ratified it. Furthermore, the country’s health ministry recently announced the termination of the services of a number of staff members in its Tobacco Control Cell […] Continue reading ->
In preparation for the next pandemic, the COVAX global vaccine facility “needs a pot of money, where they can be early movers” in competing for, and securing, vaccine doses. That could help scenarios like the ones seen recently, in which rich countries cornered the market on the first available COVID-19 vaccines, leading to severe shortages […] Continue reading ->
ISLAMABAD, PAKISTAN – Pakistan and its three estranged neighbouring countries – India, Iran and Afghanistan – are all struggling to restrain their large populations from attending deeply rooted and centuries-old cultural, religious festivals – so as to curb the spread of COVID-19 in the region.  The cultural, political, and religious gatherings in all four developing […] Continue reading ->
As India restricts COVID-19 vaccine exports to address its domestic surge, the World Health Organization (WHO) is poised to give the Chinese vaccine, Sinopharm, emergency use listing (EUL) this week – potentially catapulting China into becoming the biggest global supplier of COVID-19 vaccines for low- and middle-income countries (LMIC). However, Sinopharm is reported to be […] Continue reading ->
PUNE – Indian twitter for days has been a desperate space. There are appeals for oxygen cylinders, cries for funding to meet healthcare costs, and panic-stricken relatives scouting for hospital beds for their loved ones. Hospitals are now approaching the courts for help as they run out of oxygen. And even prominent lawyers and influencers […] Continue reading ->