ISLAMABAD: The spread of rumors on social media earlier this year that some children had been poisoned from contaminated polio vaccines has caused high refusal rates in Pakistan since, a senior World Health Orgarnization (WHO) official said on Thursday, leaving over three million children unvaccinated
The rumors, including that some children had died from polio vaccinations, were spread on social media platforms in April by religious hard-liners in Pakistan’s northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province.
The misinformation triggered mass panic in the province as mobs burned a village health center, blocked a highway and pelted cars with stones. Medical workers were harassed and threatened and panicked parents rushed their children to hospitals, overwhelming health authorities.
Families of hundreds of thousands of children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and elsewhere have since refused to participate in polio campaigns to eradicate the virus that can cause paralysis and death.
“The incidents caused by false rumors are the main cause of missing vaccinations,” Dr. Abdirahman Mahamud, Pakistan team leader for polio at the World Health Organization (WHO), told Arab News in an interview on Thursday.
Other than the April rumors which led to two million refusals, Mahamud said a similar incident in Nawabshah in the southern Sindh province caused an additional one million families to refuse vaccination.
As WHO marked October 24, World Polio Day, to raise awareness and resources in support of polio eradication efforts, it said global polio cases had been cut by more than 99% since 1988. However, type 1 polio virus is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, where it has infected a total of 88 people this year. That is a resurgence from a record low global annual figure of 22 cases in 2017.
Polio invades the nervous system and can cause irreversible paralysis within hours. It cannot be cured, but infection can be prevented by vaccination — and a dramatic reduction in cases worldwide in recent decades has been due to intense national and regional immunization campaigns in babies and children.
In unvaccinated populations, however, polio viruses can re-emerge and spread swiftly. Cases of vaccine-derived polio can also occur in places where immunity is low and sanitation is poor, as vaccinated people can excrete the virus, putting the unvaccinated at risk.
The polio infection also has seasonal peaks and epidemics in the summer and fall in temperate areas, and repeats its season after every 3 to 4 years, Mahamud said, adding that eradication efforts had to target the off-peak season for the virus to be wiped out for good.
“Last time this cycle hit Pakistan was in 2014 when there were 306 cases reported but this year so far, we have recorded 76 cases. As long as the virus exist in three major hubs — Karachi, Peshawar and Quetta — the whole country is at risk,” Mahamud said.
He said the vaccine used in Pakistan was well tested and secure: “It has been used in many countries, all propaganda regarding its negative effects is false.”
Mahamud added: “It is a false assumption that polio teams do not take proper care of vaccination as they are the same people who took the numbers of polio cases from more than 30,000 to only 8 in 2017 within two decades.”
Mahamud said even if all of 39.5 million children under the age of 5 years were vaccinated in Pakistan this year, it would still take 18 months to show results.
“WHO is providing all technical assistance for capacity building at the national, provincial and district level,” he said. “The Pakistani government has taken $160 million from Islamic Development Bank for this program and we are facilitating in distribution of that fund to the frontline workers”.
State minister for health Dr. Zafar Mirza said the government was taking multiple steps to make Pakistan polio free in the next 2-3 years.
“The government has worked very intensely during the last two months, to find the best team to serve the purpose of eradicating polio from Pakistan,” he said on the sidelines of a ceremony organized to commemorate World Polio Day in Islamabad. “Now we have the best professionals to lead our national and provincial emergency operation centers.”
The minister said 260,000 polio workers in total were working to vaccinate children even in the most remote areas: “We are plugging in all the gaps we found at the union council, district, provincial and national level … We have figured out many problems and now trying to solve them through practical steps.”
Three million children left unvaccinated as polio rumors stoke refusals — WHO
Three million children left unvaccinated as polio rumors stoke refusals — WHO
- WHO marks October 24 as World Polio Day to raise awareness and resources for polio eradication efforts
- Global polio cases have dropped by 99% since 1988 but the virus is still endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan
President of Azad Kashmir invites China to explore investments in disputed region
- Move is likely to draw the ire of archrival India which like Pakistan claims the Kashmir region in full
- Since 1947, Pakistan and India have fought three wars over Kashmir, engaged in regular border skirmishes
ISLAMABAD: Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) President Sultan Mahmood Chaudhry has invited Chinese businesses and companies to invest in different sectors of the Pakistan-controlled disputed region, state media reported on Wednesday, in a move that is likely to draw the ire of archrival India.
The Muslim-majority Kashmir region has long been a source of tensions between nuclear-armed neighbors India and Pakistan, leading them to fight three wars since winning independence from the British Empire in 1947. The scenic mountain region is divided between India, which rules the populous Kashmir Valley and the Hindu-dominated region around Jammu city, Pakistan, which controls a wedge of territory in the west called AJK, and China, which holds a thinly populated high-altitude area in the north. Besides Pakistan, India also has an ongoing conflict with China over their disputed frontier.
Since both India and Pakistan tested nuclear weapons in 1998, Kashmir has become one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints. Islamabad says a UN-mandated referendum should take place to settle the dispute over the region, expecting that the majority of Kashmiris would opt to join Pakistan.
On Tuesday, the president of AJK, which is administered by Pakistan as a nominally self-governing entity, met Li Ping, the director of China’s Yunnan Sunny Road and Bridge Company, and briefed him about “massive investment opportunities” in the region, APP reported.
“Seeking Chinese companies investment in different economic sectors of the State including mining and tourism, he said that the AJK government was ready to offer all kinds of facilities and support to investors,” state media said, as Sultan briefed the visiting Chinese business leader about the tourism potential of the region as well as its abundance of natural resources and precious stones, especially rubies and other minerals.
Li gave a detailed briefing to Sultan about the aims, objectives and business activities of his company, which specializes in tunnels, highways and other construction sectors.
“He also expressed his company’s desire to start its projects in Azad Kashmir,” APP said. “The President expressed satisfaction over Yunnan Sunny Company’s desire and said that the AJK government would welcome foreign investment.”
Beijing has already pledged investments in AJK under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor scheme, including the Karot and Kohala hydropower projects, the construction of M-4 motorway, and a Special Economic Zone at Mirpur.
After the partition of the subcontinent in 1947, Kashmir was expected to go to Pakistan, as other Muslim majority regions did. Its Hindu ruler wanted to stay independent but, faced with an invasion by Muslim tribesmen from Pakistan, hastily acceded to India in October 1947 in return for help against the invaders.
The dispute over the former princely state sparked the first two of three wars between India and Pakistan after independence. They fought a second in 1965, and a third, largely over what became Bangladesh, in 1971.
A UN-monitored ceasefire line agreed in 1972, called the Line of Control (LOC), splits Kashmir into two areas — one administered by India, one by Pakistan. Their armies have for decades faced off over the LOC. In 1999, the two were involved in a battle along the LOC that some analysts called an undeclared war. Their forces exchanged regular gunfire over the LOC until a truce in late 2003, which has largely held since.
India accuses Pakistan of backing a separatist insurgency in its portion of Kashmir that began in 1989, in particular by arming and training fighters. Pakistan denies this, saying it only offers political support to the Kashmiri people.
Pakistan issues drought alert for multiple regions due to scarce rainfall
- Rainfall was 40 percent lower than normal across Pakistan from Sept. 1, 2024, to Jan. 15, 2025
- In Sindh, rainfall was 52 percent lower than normal, Balochistan 45 percent, Punjab 42 percent
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a drought alert for several parts of the country, warning of worsening conditions due to below-normal rainfall and rising temperatures, state-run APP reported on Wednesday.
Pakistan has the fourth-highest rate of water consumption in the world. The country’s agriculture sector uses the most amount of fresh water than any other sector. Rainfall has steadily declined over the past few decades and experts have been warning for years the country will approach “absolute scarcity” of water by 2025.
According to the PMD advisory, which followed one issued on Dec. 9, rainfall from Sept. 1, 2024, to Jan. 15, 2025, was 40 percent below normal across Pakistan, with Sindh, Balochistan, and Punjab being the most affected provinces where rainfall deficits of 52 percent, 45 percent, and 42 percent respectively have been recorded.
“The drought is particularly affecting rain-fed areas,” APP said. “Drought conditions are likely to aggravate in the coming months due to limited rainfall and above-normal temperatures, which may lead to moderate drought in some regions. Flash droughts are also anticipated.”
The advisory said in Punjab province, mild drought conditions had been observed in Attock, Chakwal, Rawalpindi/Islamabad, Bhakkar, Layyah, Multan, Rajanpur, Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Khushab, Mianwali, and Dera Ghazi Khan.
Sindh province was experiencing similar conditions in Ghotki, Jacobabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Karachi, Hyderabad, and Tharparkar, while in Balochistan, affected areas included Ormara, Kharan, Turbat, Panjgur, Lasbela, Dalbandin, and adjacent regions.
The results of the latest census in 2023 counted 241.49 million people across Pakistan with a growth rate of 2.55 percent. Linked to that, per capita water availability has been on a downward trend for decades.
In 1947, when Pakistan was created, the figure stood at about 5,000 cubic meters per person, according to the World Bank. Today it is 1,000 cubic meters. It will decline further with the population expected to double in the next 50 years, climate change experts say, pointing out that Pakistan needs intervention on a range of water-related issues: from the impact of climate change to hydropower, from transboundary water-sharing to irrigated and rain-fed agriculture, and from drinking water to sanitation.
Pakistan finmin discusses financial cooperation, banking sector partnerships with Saudi National Bank chairman
- Muhammad Aurangzeb meets SNB chairman at sidelines of World Economic Forum summit in Davos
- Pakistan’s finmin meets Egypt’s planning minister, discusses ongoing projects between two countries
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb met Saudi National Bank Chairman Saeed bin Mohammed Al-Ghamdi on Tuesday to discuss financial cooperation and strengthening banking sector partnerships between the two countries, Pakistan’s finance ministry said.
The meeting between the two officials took place during the sidelines of the World Economic Forum (WEF) summit in Davos, which will be held till Jan. 24 under the theme: ‘Collaboration for the Intelligent Age’.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia are close regional partners and economic allies, with both countries signing 34 agreements worth $2.8 billion in October 2024.
“The two leaders discussed potential financial cooperation between Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, particularly focusing on strengthening partnerships in the banking sector,” the finance ministry said in a statement.
Aurangzeb briefed Ghamdi about Pakistan’s economic progress and the improvements made by the South Asian nation in its international financial rankings.
“Both sides expressed their commitment to further deepen economic ties for mutual benefit,” the ministry said.
Meanwhile, the Saudi Export-Import Bank and Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah also signed a $15 million financing agreement, strengthening access to Pakistani markets and boosting trade and economic ties.
Separately, Aurangzeb also met Egyptian Minister of Planning, Dr. Rania Al-Mashat at the sidelines of the summit. The two ministers discussed ongoing programs and projects between Pakistan and Egypt, the finance ministry said.
“The two ministers agreed to continue discussions on economy and finance and learn from each other’s experiences,” the statement said.
Saudi EXIM Bank signs $15m deal with Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah to boost trade
- Agreement designed to enhance Kingdom’s exporters access to Pakistani markets
- In October, businesses from both countries signed agreements worth $2.8 billion
RIYADH: The Saudi Export-Import Bank and Pakistan’s Bank Alfalah have inked a $15 million financing agreement, designed to enhance Kingdom’s exporters access to Pakistani markets and foster stronger trade and economic ties.
The new credit line deal seeks to increase the flow and competitiveness of the Kingdom’s non-oil exports as well as unveil new trade horizons between the two countries, the Saudi Press Agency reported.
This falls in line with Pakistan’s efforts to strengthen trade and investment ties with the Kingdom, with the Saudi government reaffirming its commitment in September to fast-track a $5 billion investment package for the Asian country.
This also aligns with Saudi EXIM’s goal of diversifying the Kingdom’s economy by offering financing and insurance products for non-oil exports in support of Vision 2030.
“The agreement comes within the bank’s efforts to strengthen strategic relations with international banks and financial institutions to provide financing solutions that contribute to the development of Saudi non-oil exports and enhance their competitiveness in Pakistani markets, by encouraging importers from Pakistan to import Saudi products and services, which opens up broad prospects for the development of trade and investment between the two countries, and creates more promising trade and investment opportunities,” said General Director of the Finance Department at Saudi EXIM Bank Abdul Latif bin Saud Al-Ghaith.
The Group Head of Corporate, Investment Banking, and International Business at Bank Alfalah, Farooq Ahmed Khan, said: “The agreement between Saudi EXIM Bank and Bank Alfalah Ltd. is a milestone in strengthening trade relations between the Kingdom and Pakistan.”
He added: “The financing line will enable Pakistani companies to access high-quality products in the Kingdom and will also enhance the volume of trade exchange between the two countries.
“We at Bank Alfalah are proud to play a pivotal role in promoting trade and investment opportunities that are in line with the shared vision to strengthen and grow the economies of both countries.”
In October, Saudi businessmen expressed hope for successful collaborations in Pakistan, saying the country’s economic stability and improved regulatory framework had made it an attractive investment destination, following the signing of over two dozen deals between companies from both nations.
Pakistan condoles loss of lives as Turkiye ski resort fire kills 66
- Fire erupted overnight in hotel of Turkiye’s Kartalkaya ski resort
- Pakistan stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Turkiye, says foreign office
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s foreign office on Tuesday condoled over the loss of lives caused by a deadly fire at a ski resort in Turkiye that killed at least 66 people and wounded over 50 others.
The blaze erupted overnight in the restaurant of the hotel in the famous Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu province on Monday.
Television footage showed the roof and upper floors of the building engulfed in flames as witnesses and reports indicated that the hotel’s fire detection system had failed to activate.
As per reports, 234 guests were staying at the hotel when it caught fire.
“The government and people of Pakistan are deeply saddened by the devastating fire at a hotel in the Kartalkaya ski resort in Bolu, Türkiye this morning,” the foreign office said.
“Pakistan extends its heartfelt condolences to the Government and people of Türkiye, particularly to the families who have lost their loved ones.”
The foreign office said Pakistan stands shoulder-to-shoulder with Turkiye, reaffirming its solidarity with the nation.
According to the state-owned Anadolu Agency, Turkish Justice Minister Yılmaz Tunç said four people, including the business owner, were detained over the fire incident.
He said six public prosecutors were assigned to the probe, adding that a team of experts were looking into the cause of the fire.
Kartalkaya, which lies about 295 kilometers east of Istanbul, is one of Turkiye’s premier winter tourism destinations that attracts thousands of visitors every winter.
