MITHI, SINDH: Pakistan’s southern region of Tharparkar in the Thar desert is facing an alarming rise in suicide cases, especially among women, with authorities linking the emerging health crisis to chronic mental illness in the impoverished district.
Between 2016 to 2020, the Sindh Mental Health Authority (SMHA), an arm of the provincial government, recorded 767 suicides in the southern Sindh province, of which the highest number, 79 cases, occurred in Tharparkar.
Tharparkar police data shows that at least 48 people — 31 women — have taken their own lives in the district since January this year.
Between June 11 and June 16 alone, eight suicide cases were registered in the region.
This month, the SMHA carried out what it called a “psychiatric autopsy” of the district to determine the “reasons behind suicides, including why more women were committing suicides,” the authority’s chairman Dr. Karim Khawaja, said.
“The results of the psychiatric autopsy will be available in the next few weeks,” he said. “It will reveal the real reasons for suicide cases and help in preventing suicides in Tharparkar.”
Baadal Saand, who heads the anti-suicide cell of the Tharparkar police, attributed a majority of the cases to “mental illness and depression.”
Dr. Bharat Kumar, the district’s only psychiatrist, said poverty “may be a vital reason” but the “mother reason” was psychiatric illness.
The UNDP’s Multidimensional Poverty Index for Pakistan reports that 87 percent of the population in the Thar desert region lives in poverty.
“Besides psychiatric illness and depression, other reasons are lack of family support or social support, or economic issues,” Kumar said.
Khatau Jani, a senior journalist from the region, concurred that rising mental illness in the region was caused by extreme poverty.
“These are extreme poverty-hit communities,” Jani said. “What Thar needs is increased funding from both federal and provincial government poverty reduction programs.”
Climate change is also driving locals into more deprivation as their livelihoods depend on rainfall in a drought-battered region.
A report published by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) in early June indicated that droughts persisting since October last year had resulted in increased food insecurity in a number of Sindh districts, including Tharpakar.
“Due to consistent deficiency of rainfall since October 2020, the moderate drought has been further intensified into severe drought especially in the southwestern Balochistan and southeastern Sindh,” the PDM said. “Drought conditions may further affect agriculture and livestock.”
Experts say modern agriculture could relieve the poverty-stricken area.
Dr. Amanullah Mahar, assistant professor at the Center for Environmental Science at the University of Sindh, recommended planting moringa trees, which flourish in arid and semiarid environments, and whose fruit pods can be consumed as food.
“Locals would not have to wait for rains for the production of moringa,” he said.
Another option was biosaline agriculture, Mahar said, a means of producing plants in saline-rich soil in arid, water-scarce locations. The method has already been tested in the district.
“Recently there was a successful experiment with biosaline agriculture in Tharparkar,” he said. “It is important to expand this agriculture pattern throughout the desert.”
In impoverished Pakistani desert region, an alarming rise in suicide cases
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In impoverished Pakistani desert region, an alarming rise in suicide cases
- Between 2016 to 2020, 79 out of the 767 suicide cases in Sindh province were reported in Tharparkar district
- At least 48 people — 31 women — have taken their own lives in the district since January this year
Toxic smog wreathes India’s capital, Pakistan’s Lahore as winter nears
- Punjab government has blamed pollution wafting in from India for Lahore’s worsening air quality
- Authorities in Punjab have taken emergency measures in wake of unprecedented pollution levels
NEW DELHI: A toxic smog shrouded the Indian capital on Tuesday, driving air quality in some areas into the “severe” range ahead of winter, when cold air traps pollutants and brings a spike in respiratory illnesses.
The mix of smoke, emissions, and dust is an annual problem for authorities in New Delhi, with vehicles, construction dust, and smoke from farm fires in the adjoining northern states of Punjab and Haryana among the major contributors.
“The outlook for the subsequent six days: the air quality is likely to be in the ‘very poor’ to ‘severe’ category,” said the earth sciences ministry.
The city’s overall score on an air quality index kept by India’s top pollution authorities was ‘very poor’ at 384, the ministry added, and was likely to stay there until Thursday.
An index range of 401 to 500 falls into the ‘severe’ category, implying it affects healthy people, but is more serious for those already fighting disease.
Ministry data showed farm fires have increasingly swelled the pollution over the last three days, for a share of more than 23 percent on Monday, from about 15 percent on Saturday.
About a third of the city’s 39 monitoring stations showed a ‘severe’ score of more than 400 on Tuesday, said the Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB), well short of an air quality score of zero to 50 that it rates as ‘good’.
Swiss group IQAir also rated Delhi the world’s second most polluted city on Tuesday, after Lahore in neighboring Pakistan, where authorities also took emergency measures in the wake of Sunday’s unprecedented pollution levels.
The government in the eastern province of Punjab, home to Lahore, has blamed deteriorating air quality on pollution wafting in from India, an issue it has vowed to take up with its neighbor through the foreign ministry.
Pakistan, Uzbekistan businesses explore joint ventures in Tashkent meeting
- The business-to-business meetings spanned a variety of industries, including textiles, food processing, engineering and logistics
- Pakistan is seeking to promote closer economic ties with regional and international allies to bolster its fragile $350 billion economy
ISLAMABAD: Representatives of more than two dozen Pakistani companies and over one hundred leading Uzbek enterprises met in Tashkent and discussed joint projects in diverse sectors, the Pakistani commerce ministry said on Monday.
The discussions took place at the Uzbek-Pakistani Business Forum, complementing the 9th intergovernmental commission meeting on economic cooperation between Uzbekistan and Pakistan, according to the Pakistani ministry.
These business-to-business (B2B) meetings spanned a variety of industries, including textiles, food processing, engineering and logistics, underscoring the shared commitment of both nations to explore collaborative business opportunities.
Addressing the forum, Pakistan’s Commerce Minister Jam Kamal Khan highlighted Pakistan’s investment-friendly environment and encouraged Uzbek businesses to consider collaborative projects in Pakistan.
"He emphasized that such interactions pave the way for deepened commercial ties and contribute to regional economic stability," the commerce ministry said.
Uzbekistan’s Minister of Investment, Industry and Trade Laziz Kudratov echoed these sentiments, welcoming Pakistani enterprises and emphasizing the Uzbek government’s commitment to fostering a supportive atmosphere for international partnerships.
"Initiatives like the Business Forum play a crucial role in propelling trade and investment forward, creating new opportunities for entrepreneurs," he was quoted as saying.
The development comes as Pakistan seeks to enhance regional connectivity with landlocked Central Asian states by providing them access to its warm water ports. It recently offered Central Asian states to become part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project, under which Beijing has pledged around $65 billion in energy, infrastructure and other projects in Pakistan.
The South Asian country narrowly avoided a sovereign default last year and has since sought to promote closer economic ties with regional and international allies to bolster its fragile $350 billion economy, which has been suffering from a prolonged macroeconomic crisis.
Iranian FM arrives in Pakistan to discuss Middle East situation, bilateral ties
- Seyed Abbas Araghchi’s visit takes place amid surging regional tensions between Israel and Iran
- Islamabad, Tehran have had a rocky relationship despite agreements on trade, energy and security
ISLAMABAD: Iran’s Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi has arrived in Islamabad on a two-day official visit to hold consultations with the Pakistani leadership on the evolving Middle East situation and discuss bilateral ties with Pakistan, state-run media reported on Tuesday.
Araghchi was welcomed by Pakistan’s Additional Foreign Secretary (Afghanistan and West Asia) Ambassador Ahmed Naseem Warraich upon his arrival in Islamabad, a foreign office press release said.
Araghchi’s Islamabad visit takes place after last month’s escalation in hostilities between Iran and Israel, with both countries firing missiles at each other. Israel carried out strikes against Iran on Oct. 26, saying it was responding to missile attacks conducted by Tehran earlier in the month.
Since the deadliest attack in its history on Oct. 7, 2023, Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza and since late September, it has been at war with Hezbollah in Lebanon. Both Hezbollah and Hamas are allies of Iran. Pakistan, a major ally of Saudi Arabia, shares a long border with Iran.
“Iranian Foreign Minister Seyed Abbas Araghchi arrived here late Monday night on a two-day official visit to hold consultations with Pakistan’s leadership on the situation in the Middle East and bilateral relations,” state-run Associated Press of Pakistan (APP) reported.
The APP said Araghchi will meet Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar during his two-day visit.
“This visit provides an important opportunity to advance cooperation and dialogue between Pakistan and Iran on a wide range of areas including trade, energy and security,” APP said.
Pakistan and Iran have had a rocky relationship despite several commercial pacts between the two countries on trade, energy and security. Both countries signed the $7 billion Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline project agreement in 2004 but 20 years on, the project remains incomplete. Tehran has completed the pipeline’s construction on its side of the border while Pakistan is seeking a US waiver to go ahead with it due to international sanctions targeting Tehran.
Pakistan and Iran are also often at odds over instability on their shared porous border, with both countries routinely trading blame for not rooting out militancy.
Tensions surged in January when Pakistan and Iran exchanged airstrikes, both claiming to target alleged militant hideouts in each other’s countries. Late Iranian president Ebrahim Raisi visited Pakistan in April on a three-day visit aimed at strengthening bilateral relations and easing tensions. The two sides also signed memorandums of understanding in the fields of trade, science technology, agriculture, health, culture, and judicial matters.
Pakistan reports fresh polio case from Balochistan, taking 2024 tally to 46
- Poliovirus detected in male child from Killa Saifullah district, says polio eradication program
- Pakistan’s immunization campaigns suffer from misinformation campaigns and militant attacks
KARACHI: Pakistan’s southwestern Balochistan province has detected a fresh poliovirus case in a male child, the country’s polio eradication program said on Tuesday, taking the total number of cases reported this year to 46 as Islamabad struggles to clamp down on the infection.
The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) laboratory confirmed detecting the virus in a male child from Killa Saifullah district in Balochistan, the program said.
“This is the second polio case from Killa Saifullah, where several environmental samples have tested positive for WPV1,” the Pakistan Polio Eradication Program said. “So far, 23 cases have been reported from Balochistan province, 12 from Sindh province, nine from KP and one each from Punjab and Islamabad.”
Pakistan and Afghanistan are the only two countries where polio remains endemic. Since late 2018, Pakistan has seen a resurgence of cases and increased spread of poliovirus, highlighting the fragility of gains achieved in the preceding years when cases dropped in 2023 to six, from 20 in 2022 and just one in 2022. Misinformation about vaccinations and attacks by militants on polio teams have been major impediments to immunization campaigns.
At least seven people, including five school students, were killed and 23 injured in a blast in southwestern Pakistan that targeted a polio vaccination team vehicle on Friday, police said. No group has claimed responsibility for the attack. Last Tuesday, a policeman was killed in an attack on a health office that manages door-to-door polio vaccination campaigns.
The attacks have coincided with Pakistan’s third nationwide polio campaign this year, launched last week with the aim to administer vaccine drops to more than 45 million children.
Pakistani Prime Minister’s Focal Person for Polio Eradication, Ayesha Raza Farooq, has said that the government is revamping its polio eradication program to make the country free of the virus by mid next year.
“WPV1 has been detected in 76 districts, indicating widespread circulation of the virus and a continued serious risk to children’s well-being from a disease that can paralyze them for life,” the polio eradication program said.
“Multiple doses of the oral polio vaccine and completion of the routine vaccination schedule for all children under the age of five is essential to keep them protected.”
Pakistan PM says policy rate reduction to enhance business activities, boost employment
- Pakistan’s central bank slashed key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday
- With fourth straight reduction since June, Islamabad aims to revive sluggish economy
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has welcomed the central bank’s decision to cut the policy rate by 250 basis points, saying the move would help boost the country’s business activities and enhance employment opportunities, state-run media reported on Tuesday.
Pakistan’s central bank slashed its key policy rate by 250 basis points to 15 percent on Monday for a fourth straight reduction since June. The development takes place as Islamabad attempts to revive a sluggish, fragile $350 billion economy as inflation eases.
Monday’s move follows cuts of 150 bps in June, 100 bps in July, and 200 in September that have taken the rate from an all-time high of 22 percent, set in June 2023 and left unchanged for a year. It takes the total cuts to 700 bps in under five months.
“Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif says the reduction in policy rate will enhance business activities, exports and employment opportunities in the country,” state broadcaster Radio Pakistan reported.
Sharif was chairing a meeting of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz’s (PML-N) parliamentary party on Monday when he touched upon the central bank’s move. The premier noted that inflation has reduced from an alarming 38 percent in May 2023 to 7 percent at present.
The Pakistani premier informed members of the PML-N parliamentary party about his visit to Saudi Arabia and Qatar last week, saying that “a new chapter” has been added to the Pakistan-Saudi investment partnership.
“The Saudi leadership assured all kinds of support for the stability and development of Pakistan’s economy,” Sharif said according to the state broadcaster.
The Pakistani prime minister also informed the lawmakers about his visit to Qatar, saying that the Qatari leadership also assured an increase in investment for Pakistan. He said talks were held between both sides on giving “a practical shape” to projects worth $3 billion in Pakistan.
“He said Qatar will invest in various sectors including aviation, hoteling, information technology and energy sectors in Pakistan,” the state broadcaster said. “Shehbaz Sharif said the government is taking steps on a priority basis to facilitate investment and increase foreign investment in Pakistan.”
