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Doctors announce Oct 11 convention, warn of indefinite healthcare shutdown

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PMA claims widespread participation in strike; PIMA rejects POS system for clinics IV Report KARACHI: Doctors’ bodies on Wednesday announced an All-Pakistan Doctors’ Convention in Gujrat on October 11 and warned that they could opt for an extended, indefinite nationwide healthcare shutdown if the government failed to address their grievances over taxation measures, including the Federal Board of Revenue’s (FBR) point-of-sale (POS) system for medical practices. The announcement was made at a press conference addressed by senior Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) leaders, including former PMA Centre president Prof S Tipu Sultan, PMA Centre Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro and PMA Karachi President Dr Ismail Memon, following a one-day strike against what the association described as administrative overreach and undue pressure on the medical community. PMA Karachi General Secretary Dr Shahid Mamsa and Young Doctors Association Sindh Chairman Dr Mehboob Noonari were also pre...
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Domestic violence goes beyond four walls of home, experts say

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KU-UN Women seminar highlights abuse goes beyond physical assault, calls for better reporting, child-friendly clinics and safe campuses IV Report KARACHI: Domestic violence is not confined to the four walls of a home and goes far beyond physical assault, experts stressed at a seminar at the University of Karachi on Wednesday. The Centre of Excellence for Women’s Studies (CEWS), in collaboration with UN Women and the KU Office of Research, Innovation and Commercialisation (ORIC), organised the discussion on ‘Growing Gender-Based Violence (GBV) in Pakistan: Legal Gaps, Implementation Challenges and Way Forward’ at the Chinese Teachers Memorial Auditorium. Karachi Police Surgeon Dr Summaiya Syed said violence could include harm to a person’s body, mind, reputation or property and could attract serious legal action. “It is incorrect to consider domestic violence as confined only to the boundaries of the home; close family relationships are also encompassed within its domain, whe...
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DUHS launches tool for infectious-disease care

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‘Bug & Drug’ aims to support evidence-based treatment and responsible antibiotic use IV Report KARACHI: The Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) has launched a locally developed clinical decision-support application aimed at helping doctors make evidence-based decisions in the treatment of infectious diseases, with its developers and health experts also highlighting its potential role in promoting responsible antibiotic use and addressing antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The “Bug & Drug” application was formally launched by DUHS Vice Chancellor Prof Nazli Hossain at the auditorium of the Sindh Infectious Diseases Hospital & Research Centre (SIDH&RC), while former DUHS vice chancellor Prof Muhammad Saeed Quraishy inaugurated its publication. Addressing the ceremony, Prof Saeed Quraishy said recurrent infections remained an important clinical challenge and expressed the hope that the application would be widely utilised by healthcare professionals. He also ackno...
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Pakistani women face high heart disease burden

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JACC study finds Pakistan has highest female ischaemic heart disease death rate among five South Asian countries; experts cite hypertension, diabetes, obesity and screening gaps IV Report KARACHI: Pakistani women had the highest age-standardised death rate from ischaemic heart disease among five South Asian countries in 2021, with experts linking the burden to hypertension, diabetes, obesity, physical inactivity and gaps in screening and follow-up. The finding, from a 2026 study published in JACC: Asia , was highlighted at a press conference in Karachi on Monday ahead of World Heart Day, to be observed on September 29 with the theme “Don’t Miss a Beat”. The study compared Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan using Global Burden of Disease estimates. Pakistan was also the only country in the comparison where deaths in relation to estimated cases were higher among women than men, at 4.4 per cent against 3.1 per cent. High blood pressure and diets low in vegetables and f...
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Viewpoint: Why No Gen Z Upsurge in Pakistan?

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By Mukhtar Alam Some opinion leaders were discussing the Gen Z movement, with the question: "Why Pakistan hasn't seen a Gen Z upsurge like Bangladesh, Nepal, and the cockroach party chatter in India?" Life has taught that in no country can things be accomplished merely by wishing and wanting. At the end of the day, it is the available environment and resources that ultimately prove decisive. Wishing is not structure: Every country doesn't get a movement just because people wish for it on X / TikTok. Movements need a specific trigger and a vacuum. Bangladesh had the quota, Nepal had the social media ban plus corruption. End of the day, environment and resources decide: In Pakistan, the available environment is very different: ·         A controlled space for protest ·         Economic survival pressure > street politics for most youth ·         No single unifying trigger that cuts across ethnicity and class — B...
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13 years on, active Sindh AIDS Commission still not in sight

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Health experts call for immediate notification to fix surveillance, reporting and prevention gaps By Mukhtar Alam KARACHI: Thirteen years after the Sindh AIDS Control and Prevention Act, 2013 was passed, the province still does not have an active institution to implement it. The Act provided for a Sindh AIDS Commission (SAC) as the apex body for policy, surveillance, and public reporting. The first Commission was notified but met only once. Its three-year tenure expired without further meetings. Since then, the health department has not notified a new composition. The result is visible on the ground. There is no single authority to collect HIV case information, verify outbreaks, or release periodic situation reports. Hospitals maintain internal records. NGOs share field observations. Media and experts quote “sources”. The public gets fragments, not a provincial picture, according to health circles. Health professionals say this gap is now affecting both tracking and treatment...
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Merit mourned: Non-technical officer appointed DG Health Sindh

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PMA condemns appointment as violation of court orders, warns of province-wide non-cooperation IV Report KARACHI: Echoing the ongoing concerns of senior in-service and retired officers of the health department, the Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) on Tuesday formally condemned the appointment of a non-technical bureaucrat as Director General Health Services Sindh. In a press release issued by its Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro, the PMA termed the appointment a direct violation of court orders and directives regarding the governance of technical medical positions. The association stated that it is deeply unfortunate that the Government of Sindh remains indifferent to the serious consequences such a decision holds for public health administration. "It is highly disheartening for the entire medical fraternity to see senior, experienced and highly qualified medical professionals bypassed in favor of a non-technical administrator," the statement said, adding...
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