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By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) More than 200 scientists from around the world have challenged the official point of view of regarding the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) as the pandemic has rocked the whole world by having killed over half a million people.  The scientists have contended the observations of the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which has continued to list only a couple of reasons of the transmission of the deadly virus.  While the two organizations have maintained that inhaling respiratory droplets from an infected person in immediate vicinity or touching a contaminated surface and then eyes, nose or mouth were the two reasons of the contagious disease finding its way into others but the scientists have reckoned that there was growing evidence another way of its transmission.  These scientists appear convinced on the basis multiple studies which demon...

By Syed Sajid Aziz in USA (Pakistan News & Features Services) As the entire planet faces the wrath of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) has issued fresh guidance for the use of masks on the basis of evolving evidence.  Dr Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, Director General, WHO, shared the new guidance over the weekend, warning the people about the dangers of ignoring the other safety measures while wearing the masks.  He cautioned the people against developing a false sense of security when they were wearing masks as the protective gear but did not take care of other preventive matters.  “I cannot say this clearly enough: Masks alone will not protect you from COVID-19. Masks are only a benefit as part of a comprehensive approach,” Dr Ghebreyesus clarified.  “Masks can be used either for protection of healthy persons (worn to protect oneself when in contact with an infected individual) or for source contro...

By Mukhtar Alam (Pakistan News & Features Services) Karachi was reported to have the highest coronavirus case load in the country at 24%, pulling down Lahore to number two at 23%, as the Sindh health authorities confirmed detection of another 371 new cases, with seven relevant deaths, in the megapolis on May 4.  Only on May 2, according to a report compiled by the World Health Organization (WHO), Lahore topped among the districts of Pakistan for reporting 26% of the country’s total COVID-19 cases, while Karachi was second at 14%.  In the meantime Karachi’s COVID-19 case fatality rate (CFR) decrease to 2.08% on May 4, against the provincial overall CFR of 1.73%, which, according to analysts can be attributed to the considerable increase in the numbers of new testing against the virus in the city.  According to official data updated on May 4, Karachi reported the biggest increase in the number of confirmed Coronavirus cases in a week as 2,361, about 40% of its total con...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The experts, while speaking at the inaugural session of the 5th AKU Annual Surgical Conference, having the theme Trauma: Striving for Change, reckoned that thousands of injury deaths every year in Pakistan could be averted by taking safety measures on one side and by adopting a systematic approach to improve trauma care on the other side.  A systematic approach ensures that life-saving interventions are performed in a timely manner and that no life-threatening conditions are missed, the speakers at the event, organized by the Aga Khan University (AKU), noted.  As per the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines, such an approach could consist of emergency care in the form of first aid being provided by a trained bystander, who can also call an ambulance, equipped with necessary life support and at least two personnel, one to monitor and manage the patient and the other to drive. Ambulance personne...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Married women and single men under the age of 30 in Pakistan are among the groups most likely to commit suicide, according to speakers at a panel session Wellness in the Workplace at Aga Khan University.  The event was part of a week of sessions and themed activities aimed at spreading awareness of the importance of suicide prevention: the theme for World Mental Health Day 2019.  The speakers noted that research showed that Pakistan’s highest-risk groups for suicide were different to those in other parts of the world.  In the West, single men between the age of 50 and 60 are most likely to take their own lives. But in Pakistan, youth of working age, under the age of 30, are most likely to commit suicide which suggested that employers had a role to play in tackling the public health threat of suicide, which claimed about 800,000 lives a year globally, according to data from the World Health ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) The children in the Lyari neighbourhood of Karachi, one of the areas worst-hit by the typhoid outbreak in Sindh, are receiving their first dose of the typhoid conjugate vaccine (TCV), the latest vaccine to be included in Pakistan’s routine immunization programme.  The staff from Aga Khan University (AKU), working in partnership with the Sindh government, will inoculate over 100,000 infants and children between the ages of six months and 15 years by administering the vaccine at public and private sector schools and hospitals based in one of the city’s most densely populated towns.  “This is the first step in a mass immunization campaign for Sindh. The vaccine is the most effective way to curb new cases and to protect children from a disease which is becoming increasingly expensive and difficult to treat,” Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho, Sindh Health minister, remarked.  Pakistan is the first country ...

By Abdul Qadir Qureshi (Pakistan News & Features Services) Unusually high levels of lead and arsenic, heavy metals most commonly associated with human poisoning, have been found in common foods. These are the findings of a research study, conducted by the Aga Khan University in collaboration with Japan’s Jichi Medical University, that were presented at a seminar Heavy Metals, Food Safety and Child Development at AKU on December 5. Lead and arsenic are two chemicals deemed to be of major concern to public health, according to the World Health Organization’s International Programme on Chemical Safety, since both elements have toxic effects that can cause irreversible neurological damage and even trigger a wide range of chronic diseases.  To determine the cause of lead and arsenic exposure, the AKU researchers looked at common sources of lead and arsenic exposure including petrol, foods, drinking water, house-dust, respirable dust and soil across urban and rural ar...