PESHAWAR: Government officials and relatives said a lack of awareness and coordination and a communication gap among officials were responsible for the two latest cases of polio found in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s remote Bajaur area earlier this month.
Pakistan’s tribal regions, including Bajaur, were only last year merged into the political and legal mainstream of the country. Access to health care in these areas has been patchy, if not absent, for decades.
Earlier this month, the National Institute of Health found two new cases of the polio virus in a three-year-old boy Abdul Rehman and a six-and-a-half-year-old girl Nabila. Both belong to Jaba Manzai, a dusty village in the Bajaur tribal district.
A three-day polio drive is currently underway across the tribal areas and will conclude on Wednesday.
“Every confirmed polio case from Bajaur is proof in itself that a [coordination and communication] gap exists and there is need for improving the quality of campaign,” said Kamran Ahmed Afridi, a coordinator at the local Emergency Operation Center.
He said task teams and syndicates had already been notified and would identify gaps and propose counter strategies.
Pakistan is one of only three countries in the world, along with Afghanistan and Nigeria, that suffers endemic polio, a childhood virus that can cause paralysis or death.
Efforts to eradicate the disease have been undermined by government mismanagement as well as opposition from militants who see immunization as a foreign ploy to sterilize Muslim children and consider polio workers to be Western spies.
In just one attack in 2015, a suicide bomber killed 15 people outside a vaccination center in the southwestern city of Quetta.
Wazir Khan Safi, a surgeon in Bajaur, said parental refusal to vaccinate was also behind the latest cases of polio.
“We have reports that there are four children in that particular home [where the two new cases were found] and their parents avoided administering polio drops to three of their kids,” Safi said, adding that the family had reprimanded and mistreated polio workers in the past.
In Pakistan, suspicion of immunization drives was compounded by the hunt for Al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, the mastermind of the 2001 attacks on the United States. A Pakistani doctor, Shakeel Afridi, has been accused of using a fake vaccination campaign to collect DNA samples that the US Central Intelligence Agency is believed to have used to track down bin Laden.
Bin Laden was killed in a covert raid by US special forces in 2011 in the Pakistani town of Abbottabad, where he had been hiding.
Sultan Ibrahim, the father of the girl recently diagnosed with polio, said his daughter’s left leg was paralyzed.
“I never refused vaccination but at the same time I had no idea about the importance of anti-polio vaccination or drops,” he said, tearfully. “Sometimes, polio teams were not punctual in carrying out the campaign.”
“I am now ready to go every length to recover my daughter’s health,” he added.
About the ongoing three-day polio drive, Muhammad Usman Mehsud, the top administrator of Bajaur, said strict directives had been issued to district administration and health department officials to depute polio teams at security check posts, entry and exit points of main towns and bus stands to vaccinate every child under the age of five.
“Any delinquency on the part of any officer will be dealt with sternly,” he said.
According to Afridi at the Emergency Operation Center, a total of 4,120 teams comprising 3,803 mobile teams, 227 fixed and 90 transit mobile teams had been assigned to vaccinate a total of 884,771 children below the age of five years across the tribal areas.
Last year, the WHO said the polio situation had stagnated in Pakistan, with eight cases reported until November 2018, the same number as was reported for the whole of 2017.
“We are facing acute shortage of female polio workers.” said Mehsud, “who can play a highly significant role of going inside every home to make sure that no child is left unvaccinated.”
Awareness, communication gap behind new polio cases in Pakistani tribal areas
Awareness, communication gap behind new polio cases in Pakistani tribal areas
- Parental refusal to vaccinate also part of the problem
- Three-day polio drive ongoing in tribal regions
Pakistan central bank holds key policy rate at 22 percent
- Pakistan’s key rate was last raised in June to fight persistent inflationary pressures and to meet IMF conditions
- Reforms under IMF program have complicated task of keeping price pressures in check, however, inflation has slowed
KARACHI: Pakistan’s central bank kept its key interest rate unchanged at 22 percent for the seventh straight policy meeting, it said on Monday, hours before the International Monetary Fund executive board will meet to discuss the approval of $1.1 billion in funding for Pakistan.
Battling inflation and limited foreign exchange reserves, the cash-strapped South Asian nation is trying to navigate a path to economic recovery under a $3 billion standby arrangement with the IMF secured last summer to avert a sovereign default, and is hoping to sign a longer term program.
Pakistan’s key rate was last raised in June to fight persistent inflationary pressures and to meet one of the conditions set by the IMF for securing the bailout.
Reforms under the program have complicated the task of keeping price pressures in check. Inflation, however, has slowed its pace primarily due to high base effect.
Pakistan’s consumer price index (CPI) for March was up 20.7 percent from the same month last year, the lowest reading in nearly two years and below the finance ministry’s projections for the month.
Surging street crimes drive fear, misery into hearts of residents of Pakistan’s largest city
- According to media tallies, at least 62 people killed in incidents of street crime in Karachi this year
- Sindh Inspector General says new measures to prosecute criminals have led to higher convictions
KARACHI: With the aroma of Eid dinner still lingering in the air, Syed Turrab Hussain Zahedy left his apartment with a friend earlier this month to withdraw cash from an ATM near his roadside apartment in the teeming city of Karachi.
The muggers hit soon after they stepped out of the building and demanded they hand over their valuables. While his friend complied, Zahedy, 38, resisted and within minutes was shot dead, one among over 60 people who have been killed in attempted muggings and other incidents of street crime this year in Pakistan’s largest city and commercial hub.
Karachi, a metropolis of 20 million that hosts the stock exchange and central bank, has for decades been beset by armed violence. While an armed campaign by the military, with help from police, paramilitary Rangers and intelligence agencies, against armed gangs and suspected militants in the city brought down murder rates after 2013, street crimes have been on the rise again since last year, with shooting deaths in muggings and robberies once again becoming a daily headline.
The government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province, of which Karachi is the capital, said last week it was intensifying efforts against street crimes but the families of victims remain hopeless, saying their loved ones have become mere statistics.
“My son, in the eyes of this government, was nothing but a moving insect,” Syed Nisar Hussain, Zahedy’s 75-year-old father, told Arab News. “He wasn’t considered a human being.”
Hussain urged Pakistan’s prime minister, chief justice and army chief to step in to tackle the “terrorists” who were killing people on Karachi’s streets and lamented the criminal justice system in Pakistan where the conviction rate is very low, 11 percent, and where the failure of prosecutors to attain convictions in major as well as routine cases has badly eroded public confidence in the state’s ability to govern.
But Ghulam Nabi Memon, the inspector general of Sindh Police, said the force was now working overtime to wipe out crime, while acknowledging past neglect and mistakes.
“We have tasked good investigators to investigate cases of street crimes,” Memon told Arab News. “Additionally, we have requested the government to give us prosecutors who may help investigators in the collection of evidence.”
He said police had announced rewards and incentives for investigation officers who prosecuted cases successfully, saying such measures had already boosted the conviction rate in Karachi from less than 10 percent to 24 percent, the highest in Pakistan.
“While we are working hard to stop these killing ... overall, the incidents of crimes have decreased, which shows that police is doing its job,” Memon added.
But many Karachi residents say the feeling of insecurity has only grown.
Abdul Rahim Gul, 50, who works in the real estate business, said frequent mobile phone and car snatchings near his home and office had forced him to hire guards from a private security company six months ago.
“We have installed CCTV cameras and hired guards,” Gul lamented. “We can’t afford it but we have to do it.”
Sayida Rikshenda Jabeen, Zahedy’s 67-year-old mother, still does not know how to cope with the killing of her son, who is survived by his parents, a wife and three children between the ages of six months and six years.
“Just now, my little granddaughter was asking, ‘Grandma, where is Papa?’ What should I tell her?” Jabeen asked.
The sounds of ambulance sirens outside the Zahedys roadside apartment had also become a daily reminder of the “horrors” that lurked on the streets outside.
Scrolling through photos of her son on a cell phone, Jabeen asked the police, government and criminals:
“How many mothers’ hearts will you break? How many mothers’ laps will you people destroy?”
Pakistan says over 65,000 Hajj pilgrims to utilize Makkah Route Initiative this year
- Pakistani officials confirmed last week Saudi Arabia had extended Makkah Route Initiative to Karachi as well
- Pakistan’s religious affairs secretary says government has reduced Hajj expenses by $358.76 this year
ISLAMABAD: Over 65,000 Pakistani pilgrims are set to avail Saudi Arabia’s Makkah Route Initiative during this year’s Hajj pilgrimage, Pakistan’s religious affairs secretary said on Monday, compared to the 26,000 pilgrims who availed the facility from Pakistan’s capital in 2023.
Pakistani officials confirmed last week that Saudi authorities have approved the Makkah Route Initiative’s expansion to the airport in Karachi, the country’s largest city by population. Launched in 2019, the initiative was initially only extended to the airport in Islamabad. The Makkah Route Initiative allows for the completion of immigration procedures at the pilgrims’ country of departure, making it possible to bypass long immigration and customs checks upon reaching Saudi Arabia. The facility significantly reduces the waiting time and makes the entry process smoother and faster.
Islamabad had been requesting the Saudi authorities to extend the facility to other airports in the country as well.
“A total of 65,000 Hajj pilgrims will utilize the Route to Makkah facility at Karachi and Islamabad airports this year,” Dr. Syed Atta ur Rehman, Pakistan’s religious affairs secretary told reporters in a media briefing. Breaking down the numbers, Rehman said 41,000 of the 65,000 pilgrims will avail the facility under the government’s Hajj scheme while the remaining 24,000 will use private tour operators.
“Specifically 29,500 pilgrims will use this facility from Islamabad while 35,500 will do so from Karachi airport,” Rehman explained, thanking the Saudi government for expanding the initiative to Karachi.
Saudi Arabia last year restored Pakistan’s pre-pandemic Hajj quota of 179,210 pilgrims and abolished the upper age limit of 65 years. More than 81,000 Pakistani pilgrims performed Hajj under the government scheme in 2023 while the rest used private tour operators.
Pakistan will commence the Hajj 2024 operations from May 9 in eight airports across the country till June 9. This year’s pilgrimage is expected to take place from June 14 to June 19.
Providing details of the Hajj operations this year, the official said a total of 69,000 pilgrims will perform the pilgrimage under the government scheme. Of these, 64,000 pilgrims will perform under the general scheme while over 5,000 will perform the pilgrimage under the sponsorship scheme.
The sponsorship Hajj scheme was introduced by the government last year, allowing overseas Pakistanis to apply for the pilgrimage or sponsor someone in Pakistan for the journey by paying in US dollars. In return, applicants would not have to participate in the balloting process for the pilgrimage.
Rehman said the remaining number of pilgrims will perform Hajj on the private scheme. However, he added their exact number is yet to be determined as bookings for the pilgrimage are still underway.
This year, he said, preparations for the Hajj commenced earlier as per the Saudi government’s requirements. This helped the government secure favorable accommodations for Pakistani pilgrims in the holy cities of Makkah, Madinah, and Mina, Rehman said.
Despite the surge in inflation globally, Rehman said the Pakistani government has reduced Hajj expenses by Rs100,000 ($358.76) compared to last year.
“Last year, the government charged Rs1,155,000 ($4,143) from the south zone and Rs1,175,000 ($4,215) from the north zone, whereas this year it is Rs1,055,000 ($3,784) and Rs1,075,000 ($3,856), respectively,” he said. He added the government has reduced the cost of plane tickets from last year, bringing it down to between Rs15,000-35,000 [$53.81-$125.57].
Under the government Hajj scheme this year, the secretary said pilgrims can opt for a shorter Hajj pilgrimage but will need to pay an extra fee of up to Rs60,000 [$215.26] for it.
“In addition to the usual 38 to 42-day Hajj duration, we have introduced the option of Hajj for 20 to 25 days,” Rehman explained, adding that pilgrims can also choose exclusive options such as staying in a single room with family members or fewer people by paying an additional amount.
PCB proposes Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as ICC Champions Trophy 2025 venues— report
- Pakistan are scheduled to host the eight-team ICC Champions Trophy tournament next year
- PCB chairman says upgrading existing stadiums before tournament will be a “very tough test”
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has proposed Karachi, Lahore and Rawalpindi as the three venues for the upcoming ICC Champions Trophy 2025, in an initial draft schedule of the tournament that it shared recently with the International Cricket Council (ICC), sports website ESPNcricinfo reported on Sunday.
Pakistan are scheduled to host the eight-team Champions Trophy tournament next year. If the tournament takes place in the South Asian country, it would mark the first time in nearly 30 years that an ICC event would be held in the country.
The green shirts won the last edition of the Champions Trophy 2025, which was held in 2017 in England. Champions Trophy 2017 was thought to be the last edition of the tournament until the ICC brought it back in the new rights cycle (2023-2027) and awarded Pakistan the hosting rights for the 2025 edition.
“Lahore, Karachi and Rawalpindi are the three venues proposed by the PCB in the initial draft schedule of the 2025 Champions Trophy, sent recently to the ICC,” ESPNcricinfo reported. “The eight-team tournament is expected to be played over two weeks, though the exact dates are not known yet,” it added.
It said the Pakistan board sent the initial draft after an ICC sent a team to conduct recces for the tournament. PCB Chairman Mohsin Naqvi confirmed the development during a news conference in Lahore on Sunday.
“The ICC’s security team came and we had a very good meeting,” Naqvi said. “They looked at arrangements here and we’ll also share stadium upgrade plans with them. We’re continuously in touch with the ICC. We are trying to ensure we host a very good tournament in Pakistan.”
A huge question mark looms over India’s prospects of touring Pakistan for the tournament. Political tensions between the two nuclear-armed nations mean they rarely play bilateral cricket against each other. India and Pakistan, fierce cricket rivals, meet each other on the field only during ICC tournaments and that too, at neutral venues.
India last toured Pakistan during the 2008 Asia Cup. Last year, the PCB had to adopt a “hybrid model” while hosting the Asia Cup, whereby some games were played in Pakistan but all of India’s games and the final were held in Sri Lanka.
Another challenge on Pakistan’s hands would be to upgrade its existing stadiums in line with international standards, something Naqvi has had his eye on ever since he assumed the PCB chairman’s post this year.
“If you look at Qaddafi [stadium in Lahore], it is good, but the viewing experience is not great for cricket. Football maybe, not cricket,” he said. Naqvi said Pakistan needed to improve facilities in the stadiums, especially the National Stadium in Karachi.
“So on May 7th, we’ll finalize bids from international companies who will come and help us design,” he said. “We will work with local consultants as well. We are already late but we need to do these upgrades in four-five months. It will be a very tough test but we can do it.”
Pakistani PM to address closing plenary of WEF special meeting, meet Saudi ministers today
- Shehbaz Sharif met Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman on Sunday and discussed bilateral ties and war in Gaza
- WEF has convened Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development in Riyadh
ISLAMABAD: Pakistani Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif will address today, Monday, the closing plenary of a special meeting of the World Economic Forum being held in Riyadh and meet a number of top Saudi officials, state-run APP news agency said.
Sharif arrived in Riyadh on Saturday for the World Economic Forum’s Special Meeting on Global Collaboration, Growth and Energy for Development on April 28-29. The conference has convened more than 700 participants, including key stakeholders from governments and international organizations, business leaders from the World Economic Forum’s partner companies, as well as Young Global Leaders, experts and innovators.
“Sharif is scheduled to address the closing plenary of the Special Meeting of the World Economic Forum titled ‘Rejuvenating Growth,’ on the third day of his visit to the Kingdom,” APP said.
“The third-day agenda of the prime minister’s visit also consists of his meetings with Saudi ministers for trade, energy, environment and agriculture. He is also likely to meet with the Malaysian counterpart.”
On Sunday, Sharif attended a Special Dialogue and Gala Dinner hosted by Saudi crown prince Mohammed bin Salman where they discussed bilateral ties as well as regional issues including the war in Gaza.
Sharif’s meeting with the crown prince took place less than a week after a high-powered delegation, headed by Saudi Foreign Minister Minister Faisal bin Farhan, visited Pakistan to discuss investments.
“To continue the discussion, the Prime Minister said that he has brought with him a high-powered delegation to Riyadh, including key ministers responsible for investment, so that follow-up meetings could take place between relevant officials,” the Pakistani Prime Minister’s Office said.
Sharif reiterated his invitation to the Saudi crown prince for an official visit to Pakistan at his earliest convenience, the PMO added.
Pakistan and Saudi Arabia enjoy strong trade, defense and cultural ties. The Kingdom is home to over 2.7 million Pakistani expatriates and serves as the top source of remittances to the cash-strapped South Asian country.
Both Pakistan and Saudi Arabia have been closely working to increase bilateral trade and investment deals, and the Kingdom recently reaffirmed its commitment to expedite an investment package worth $5 billion.
Separately, Sharif met Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) co-chair Bill Gates on the sidelines of the WEF meeting on Monday, the PMO said, and discussed efforts to eradicate polio in Pakistan, one of two countries globally where the virus is still endemic. The two leaders also discussed progress on ongoing activities between Pakistan and the BMGF in immunization, nutrition, and financial inclusion, the PMO said.
