ISLAMABAD/PESHAWAR: Pakistani health authorities confirmed a third mpox case in the country on Saturday, saying the patient, a resident of Peshawar, was diagnosed after the airport screening process following his return from another country.
Mpox causes flu-like symptoms and pus-filled lesions. The World Health Organization (WHO) urged countries around the world to take precautionary measures after declaring the disease a public health emergency on August 14, as a new offshoot of the virus, first identified in the Democratic Republic of Congo, began spreading to other neighboring states.
Pakistan also announced precautionary measures against the disease, putting airports and border entry points on alert and calling for strict monitoring to prevent the spread of the virus.
The government confirmed two mpox cases in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province in recent weeks, saying these individuals had a travel history and emphasizing that there had been no reports of local transmission.
“Yesterday, two suspected cases of M-pox at Peshawar Airport were isolated by the Border Health Services staff,” the health ministry said in a statement. “Samples were sent to the Peshawar Reference Public Laboratory at Khyber Medical University for diagnosis. One of the two samples tested positive. The affected individual is from Peshawar.”
The ministry informed contact tracing and screening of the affected person were being conducted, adding that the patient’s travel history includes Gulf countries.
“Following the recent emergency, the number of M-pox cases in Pakistan has reached three,” the statement added.
The spokesperson for the Public Health Department in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Atta Ullah Khan, said the patient was 51-year-old who was traveling abroad before returning to his country.
Khan said the patient arrived at the Peshawar Airport on Thursday where the medical team identified the symptoms.
“The Rapid Response Team took wound swabs from the patient at the Police Hospital and sent them to the laboratory and the results of the test returned from the National Institute of Health on Friday late night,” he told Arab News.
He informed the infected individual was subsequently transferred to the Police Services Hospital, where a six-bed ward has been allocated specifically for mpox patients.
Reacting to the development, Prime Minister’s Coordinator for Health Dr. Mukhtar Bhart said Pakistan had formulated an effective strategy for the prevention of mpox.
“Border Health Services staff at all airports are working diligently,” he maintained. “Pakistan’s surveillance system for monitoring diseases is strong worldwide.”
He noted the federal and provincial administrations were jointly ensuring effective measures for the prevention of the disease.
Bhart also said the ministry of health and its subordinate institutions were actively engaged in ensuring all preventive measures.
Pakistan confirms third mpox case in Peshawar resident after airport screening
https://arab.news/256gr
Pakistan confirms third mpox case in Peshawar resident after airport screening
- Medical team at Peshawar airport identified mpox symptoms in the 51-year-old patient before running the tests
- Health ministry says contact tracing is in progress as the patient has been moved to the Police Services Hospital
Pakistan regulator amends law to facilitate capital raising by listed companies
- The amendments address challenges faced by listed companies when raising further capital from existing shareholders through a rights issue
- Previously, listed companies were prohibited from announcing a rights issue if the company, officials or shareholders had any overdue amounts
KARACHI: The Securities and Exchange Commission of Pakistan (SECP) has notified amendments to the Companies (Further Issue of Shares) Regulations 2020 to facilitate capital raising by listed companies while maintaining adequate disclosure requirements for investors, it announced on Monday,
The amendments address challenges faced by listed companies when raising further capital from existing shareholders through a rights issue. Previously, listed companies were prohibited from announcing a rights issue if the company, its sponsors, promoters, substantial shareholders, or directors had any overdue amounts or defaults appearing in their Credit Information Bureau (CIB) report.
This restriction constrained financially stressed yet viable companies from raising capital, even in circumstances where existing shareholders were willing to support revival, restructuring, or continuation of operations, according to the SECP.
“Under the amended framework, the requirement for a clean CIB report will not apply if the relevant persons provide a No Objection Certificate (NOC) regarding the proposed rights issue from the concerned financial institution(s),” the regulator said.
The notification of the amendments follows a consultative process in which the SECP sought feedback from market stakeholders, including listed companies, issue consultants, professional bodies, industry associations, law firms, and capital market institutions.
The amendments are expected to enhance market confidence, improve access to capital for listed companies, and strengthen transparency within the rights issue framework, according to the SECP.
“To ensure transparency and protect investors’ interests, companies in such cases must make comprehensive disclosures in the rights offer document,” the regulator said.
“These disclosures must include details of any defaults or overdue amounts, ongoing recovery proceedings, and the status of any debt restructuring.”
The revised regulations strike an “appropriate balance” between facilitating corporate rehabilitation and enabling investors to make informed investment decisions, the SECP added.
