Health

First Lady Aseefa Bhutto Zardari, Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, and parliamentarians from across the political spectrum on Monday signed a landmark joint declaration on gender, breastfeeding, and nutrition in Pakistan, pledging coordinated action to protect child health, empower mothers, and remove systemic barriers to optimal breastfeeding practices.…

Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal has reaffirmed Government’s commitment to eradicate counterfeit medicines in the country. Chairing a meeting in Islamabad, he said digitalization of Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan will help eliminating the menace of counterfeit medicines. He said this step will significantly boost pharmaceutical industry’s credibility and…

Prime Minister Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif has directed the officials concerned to devise strategy for improving primary and secondary healthcare system in Islamabad to reduce the burden on tertiary hospitals. He was chairing a meeting in Islamabad on Wednesday, to review progress on construction of Jinnah Medical Complex in the federal…

Pakistan and the World Health Organization have agreed to accelerate fight against Hepatitis C. The agreement reached during a meeting between Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal and WHO Representative in Pakistan Dr Dapeng Luo in Islamabad. On the occasion, Mustafa Kamal reaffirmed his ministry’s commitment to intensify efforts in…

A week-long polio vaccination campaign will begin in sensitive union councils across Balochistan today to protect children from the deadly disease. According to Provincial Polio Emergency Operation Center, more than five hundred thousand children up to the age of five will be vaccinated. The drive will cover 123 high-risk union…

World Hepatitis Day was observed on Monday to raise awareness about viral hepatitis, a major cause of severe liver disease and liver cancer worldwide. This year’s theme, “Hepatitis: Let’s Break It Down,” highlights the need to dismantle financial, social, and systemic barriers obstructing efforts toward hepatitis elimination and liver cancer…

A week-long fractional Inactivated Polio vaccination campaign will be commenced on Monday in sensitive union councils across Balochistan to protect children from polio and stop the transmission of the virus. According to Provincial Polio Emergency Operation Center, more than 0.5 million children up to the age of five years will…

Pakistan is facing a full-blown obesity epidemic, with 81% of women and 74% of men now classified as obese, health experts revealed at a seminar in Lahore. Speaking at an Obesity Awareness Seminar organized by Getz Pharma at the Lahore Press Club, leading clinicians warned that poor diets, sedentary lifestyles,…

Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal has underlined the urgency of a unified and comprehensive national approach to tackle the alarming rise in diabetes cases across Pakistan. He was chairing second meeting of the Steering Committee for Prime Minister’s Diabetes Prevention and Control Program in Islamabad Tuesday. The Minister said the five-year…

With Pakistan heavily reliant on imported medical devices, federal health authorities and the Drug Regulatory Authority of Pakistan (DRAP) on Friday urged pharmaceutical companies and device importers to invest in local manufacturing—starting with basic devices and gradually progressing to complex technologies. Industry representatives, meanwhile, demanded significant tax concessions and ease…

 World No Tobacco Day is being observed globally today, highlighting the severe health hazards associated with tobacco use. This year’s theme, ‘Unmasking the Appeal: Exposing Industry Tactics on Tobacco and Nicotine Products,’ aims to shed light on how tobacco companies continue to entice young consumers and perpetuate addiction under the…

In a country where over 18,000 children and young people have died in the past two decades due to complications of Type 1 Diabetes—largely from lack of access to insulin—a new partnership between a local pharmaceutical firm and a non-profit organization was announced on Thursday to save the lives of…

NHSR&C establishes TAG to spearhead AMS efforts nationwideIslamabad: Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) has emerged as the number one cause of death in Pakistan, killing over one million people annually, health officials and infectious disease experts revealed at a high-level meeting held at the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination…

A nationwide anti-polio campaign of varied duration will commence from Monday. During the campaign, forty-five point four million children under age of five will be administered anti-polio drops. Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication Ayesha Raza Farooq inaugurated the campaign in Islamabad. Speaking on the occasion, she said eradication…

Obesity is silently crushing Pakistan’s economy, costing the country an estimated $3.41 billion annually — over Rs950 billion — and threatening to double to $7.6 billion (Rs2.13 trillion) by 2030 if urgent measures are not taken, health experts warned on Saturday.Citing data from the World Obesity Federation at an awareness…

Calling obesity the “mother of all non-communicable diseases,” leading health experts on Monday warned that a vast majority of Pakistan’s population has excessive waist circumference, placing them in the overweight or obese category.They said the condition is silently fueling a national health crisis—causing early deaths in men, infertility in women,…

Amid rising tensions between Pakistan and India following the Pehalgam incident in Indian-occupied Kashmir, the Healthcare Devices Association of Pakistan (HDAP) has announced that in the event of any strike, conflict, or national emergency, it will ensure the uninterrupted availability of critical medical devices and diagnostic products essential for emergency…

On the instructions of Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, a seven-day countrywide polio-eradication campaign is being commenced on Monday. Polio workers will administer polio drops to over 45 million children under the age of five across the country. Responsible parents should ensure their children’s polio vaccination and complete immunization during every…

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has formally launched the seven-day nationwide anti-polio campaign by administering polio drops to children. Speaking on the occasion, he urged parents to cooperate with anti-polio field teams to ensure their children’s vaccination and help completely eradicate the poliovirus from the country. The Prime Minister expressed confidence…

Federal Health Minister Syed Mustafa Kamal has said that while significant health research is being produced in Pakistan, the real challenge lies in translating that research into actionable policies and real-world improvements in healthcare. Speaking at the 6th International Medical Research Conference (IMRC), organized by the Health Research Advisory Board…

Alarmingly high levels of obesity, low-density lipoprotein (LDL or “bad” cholesterol), and low levels of protective high-density lipoprotein (HDL or “good” cholesterol) are the leading causes of premature coronary atherosclerosis — early plaque formation in the arteries of young Pakistani men and women — driving a surge in heart attacks…