Indus Vitals

One in ten children now live with obesity, warns UNICEF, with nearly one in five overweight in Pakistan KARACHI: Obesity has overtaken underweight as the most common form of malnutrition among children and adolescents worldwide, UNICEF warned in its newly released 2025 Child Nutrition Report, urging governments, civil society, and partners to urgently transform food environments and ensure children’s access to nutritious diets. With one in ten children worldwide now living with obesity — an estimated 188 million school-aged children and adolescents — the UN agency cautioned that the trend poses long-term risks to health, learning, and development, while threatening the social and economic future of communities and nations. The report, Feeding Profit: How Food Environments are Failing Children , presents data from more than 190 countries and marks a turning point in the global face of malnutrition. It finds that the prevalence of underweight among children aged 5 to 19 has decline...

KU seminar calls for nationwide action to tackle the growing heart health crisis KARACHI: The Medical Centre of the University of Karachi (KU), in collaboration with the Pakistan Cardiac Society, organised a public awareness seminar titled “Step Towards a Heart-Smart Future” at the campus, highlighting that cardiovascular diseases remain the foremost cause of mortality worldwide, with Pakistan facing an alarming increase, particularly among its younger population. Leading cardiologists from major medical institutions of Karachi, with KU Vice Chancellor Prof Dr Khalid M Iraqi as chief guest, urged the public to adopt preventive lifestyles. Professor Dr Bashir Hanif, Chief Cardiologist and Executive Director of Tabba Heart Institute, sharing the gravity of the global situation, noted that nearly 20 million people die annually from heart-related illnesses, with 16 million of those deaths occurring in developing countries including Pakistan, India, and other Asian nations. He empha...

ST File photo Private sector experts call for clean-air investment as SEPA vows renewed monitoring and transparency By Mukhtar Alam KARACHI: With Karachi’s air quality deteriorating sharply, experts and officials alike are urging coordinated action, reliable data, and lasting investment in clean-air measures. They caution that pollution can no longer be treated solely as an environmental problem — it has grown into a major public health and economic threat for the city. Echoing the growing alarm among environmental professionals, M Jibran Khalid Kidwai, Chief Executive Officer of Management Environmental and Social Solutions Ltd., describes Karachi’s air-quality crisis as “extremely urgent.” He warns that particulate matter levels have repeatedly crossed hazardous thresholds in recent years, placing Pakistan among the countries with the highest urban pollution burdens. “As the nation’s largest economic hub, Karachi not only suffers from this exposure but also amplifies its natio...

Experts call for real-time monitoring , open data, and public accountability to combat Karachi’s toxic air By Mukhtar Alam KARACHI: As Karachi’s residents grapple with worsening air quality, environmental experts are warning that without transparent monitoring, credible data, and coordinated governance, efforts to improve the city’s air will remain cosmetic. They describe the situation as a “public health emergency hidden in plain sight,” demanding science-led action and accountability. Senior consultant ecologist Rafiul Haq calls Karachi’s air-quality crisis “off the charts.” For him, this is no distant threat but a rapidly escalating emergency that undermines health, productivity, and quality of life. “Delay now means paying a far higher price later, in both lives and livelihoods,” he cautions, stressing the need for immediate and bold reforms — including tighter vehicle emission standards, strict industrial compliance, expansion of public transport, development of green buff...

Pulmonologists link rising respiratory cases to unchecked emissions and neglected monitoring By Mukhtar Alam KARACHI: While Karachi’s residents continue to breathe polluted air, medical experts warn that the health effects are showing up sharply across hospitals — with lung and allergy clinics reporting growing numbers of patients suffering from chronic respiratory illnesses and pollution-induced complications. According to senior pulmonologist Dr Sohail Akhter, the connection between respiratory disease and poor air quality is “an age-old understanding.” Asthma, respiratory infections, and other respiratory diseases spike in winters and during dry weather. “It is the experience of most pulmonologists; similarly, a surge of asthma admissions is seen in Islamabad in spring, coinciding with raised pollen count,” he notes. He emphasises that the trend is not merely anecdotal. “Cases certainly increase during smog, winter months, and dust storms — this has been documented,” he exp...

Country ranks 106th out of 123 nations; association demands urgent food, health and agricultural reforms IV Report KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has expressed concern over the country’s dismal ranking in the Global Hunger Index (GHI) 2025, where Pakistan stands at 106th out of 123 countries, reflecting what the association called a “serious and worsening” level of hunger nationwide. According to the 2025 Global Hunger Index released recently, Pakistan has a score of 26.0, indicating a “serious” level of hunger. The ranking places the country among those struggling to ensure basic food and nutrition for their populations. The GHI score is based on four indicators: undernourishment — the share of the population with insufficient caloric intake; child stunting — low height for age, reflecting chronic undernutrition; child wasting — low weight for height, reflecting acute undernutrition; and child mortality — deaths before the age of five, often linked to poor nutri...

Experts warn Karachi’s worsening air is turning into a public-health emergency as citizens breathe toxic air daily By Mukhtar Alam KARACHI: The worsening air quality of Sindh’s capital Karachi continues to draw concern from citizens and experts alike, while government watchdogs appear largely rudderless — aware of the environmental decline yet short on the evidence, monitoring systems, and coordinated policies needed to curb it. Health and environment experts interviewed by this scribe converged on the need to address Karachi’s rising air pollution through scientific approaches, developing evidence-based policies and emergency action plans to steer the metropolis toward sustainable development and environmental resilience — a healthier, more prosperous city for its residents. There is also a prevailing public perception that Karachi currently lacks foolproof and effective mechanisms to counter environmental hazards due to prolonged governmental neglect. The city, citizens main...

Province contributes nearly a third of national cases; CM urges collective effort for virus elimination IV Report KARACHI: With nine new cases of wild poliovirus type 1 (WPV1) so far in 2025—accounting for 31 per cent of Pakistan’s overall tally—Sindh has launched another province-wide campaign targeting 10.6 million children under five, as part of the national oral polio vaccination (OPV) drive that began on October 13. Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah , accompanied by Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho and other dignitaries, inaugurated the week-long campaign at the KMC Maternity Home in Gizri by administering drops to newborns and young children. “ Polio elimination is our moral responsibility. Every child deserves a healthy and safe future, ” Mr Shah told reporters, expressing concern over the continued detection of the virus in environmental samples and the province’s nine confirmed cases this year. Reaffirming the government’s resolve—supported by WHO, UNIC...

Another monsoon, another reckoning — Pakistan’s floods demand foresight, stronger governance, and climate accountability. Pakistan once again finds itself grappling with the aftermath of a devastating monsoon season — a recurring ordeal that now follows a grim pattern. This monsoon season has brought heavy rains, cloudbursts, and overflowing dams that have caused widespread destruction across provinces, claiming hundreds of lives, washing away homes, livestock, and crops, and crippling infrastructure already weakened by the floods of 2022 and 2024. According to reports, by mid-September this year, over 1,000 people — including 255 children — had lost their lives, while more than 1,100 others were injured. Some 2.5 million residents of Punjab and Sindh were reportedly displaced. From the rural heartlands to industrial centres, communities once again confront the colossal task of rebuilding — not just homes and roads, but also livelihoods and hope. Entire trades and small businesses...

PMA demands policy shift, disaster-linked funding, and expanded training to address untreated psychological trauma, as SMHA reiterates commitment to strengthen mental healthcare in Sindh IV Report KARACHI: The Pakistan Medical Association (PMA) has sounded the alarm over what it describes as an “abysmal” overall state of mental healthcare in the country, urging the government to prioritise access to psychological and psychiatric services as a national emergency. Marking World Mental Health Day (WMHD) , the PMA warned that the growing burden of mental distress continues to go largely untreated, undermining the nation’s overall resilience and recovery. In a statement issued on October 10, PMA Secretary General Dr Abdul Ghafoor Shoro said that Pakistan’s mental health system remains grossly unprepared to meet the needs of its increasingly traumatised population. “There is no health without mental health,” the association stressed, calling for urgent and sustained measures to integr...