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Pakistan among countries with rising malaria, tuberculosis infections

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2 years ago

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  • Huge surges in malaria infections after floods in Pakistan.
  • Increase in weather events leaving poorer populations vulnerable.
  • Tuberculosis cases also rising in Pakistan. 

DAVOS, SWITZERLAND: There has been a huge surge in malaria and tuberculosis cases in Pakistan amongst the poorest populations of the country due to recent catastrophic floods.

These revelations were made during the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos by the executive director of the world’s biggest health fund in Davos on Monday.

Climate change is increasing malaria infections, said Peter Sands, the executive director of the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria. He added that the malaria infections followed by recent floods in Pakistan and cyclones in Mozambique in 2021 are increasing.

The increase in extreme weather events, and the resulting large pools of standing water that attract mosquitoes, are leaving poorer populations vulnerable.

He said climate change was also changing the geography of mosquitoes. The highlands of Africa, in Kenya and Ethiopia, are now succumbing to malaria because of a shift in the low temperatures that once made the area unsustainable for mosquitoes.

Sands runs the world’s largest global fund, which invests in fighting tuberculosis, malaria and HIV/AIDS in some of the poorest nations in the world.

The fund, which set a target of raising $18 billion, has so far raised $15.7 billion, the largest amount of money ever raised in global health.

Part of the shortfall, he said, was a billion-dollar hit from currency fluctuations that affected donations.

Looking ahead, climate change is just one of the factors that could hamper efforts to eradicate the diseases, Sands said.

The war in Ukraine has led to a worsening of AIDS and tuberculosis. In middle-income countries such as India, Pakistan and Indonesia, tuberculosis cases amongst the poorest populations are also rising.

With fears of a global recession rising, Sands said those countries would come under increased pressure.

“I think the big concern from our perspective is what happens to health budgets in the 120 or so countries we are investing.”

And even within those health budgets, how much is being taken up by COVID?”

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Drugs worth $1 million are seized by the Pakistan Navy in the North Arabian Sea.

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Pakistan Navy Ship PNS MOAWIN, according to ISPR, used naval air assets to perform a boarding operation on a suspicious boat and confiscate the drugs that were concealed in the ship’s hidden compartments.

An estimated one million US dollars is the international market value of the narcotics that were seized.

International shipping lanes were being used to deliver this shipment of drugs.

Within the region’s maritime borders, the Pakistan Navy is always engaged in stopping all types of illicit activity, ISPR continued.

A spokesperson for the ANF Headquarters stated that earlier, during seven operations, another security unit of the nation’s anti-narcotics unit (ANF) seized more than 149 kg of drugs valued at more than Rs 40 million and detained four drug dealers.

He reported that 30 capsules containing heroin had been found in the stomach of a traveler at Peshawar International Airport who was headed to Jeddah.

Another operation resulted in the arrest of a suspect after 31 inebriated tablets were found in a package close to an Islamabad park.

150 grams of ice were found in a package that was shipped to Australia via a Karachi courier service.

90 kilograms of opium and 10 kg of heroin that had been concealed for smuggling were found during an operation in the Balochistani district of Chagai.

In the fifth operation, 45 kg of hashish was found in an uninhabited part of Balochistan’s Coastal Line Pasni. Three kilograms of hashish were found in Hyderabad on a suspect.

During the seventh operation, 500 grams of ice and 1 kilogram of heroin were found in the custody of a biker who was stopped close to the Iqbal Shaheed Toll Plaza Attock.

Additional investigations are underway, and cases have been filed under the Narcotics Control Act against the arrested suspect.

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Outsourcing of Airports: Deputy Prime Minister Commits to Transforming Aviation into a Profitable Sector

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Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar has instructed the implementation of all feasible measures to render aviation a viable industry and to enhance service quality for travelers.

He provided these directives while presiding over a meeting in Islamabad concerning the outsourcing of airports and the advancement of the aviation sector.

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Punjab Food Authority Seals Mini-Factory Manufacturing Counterfeit Milk in Nankana Sahib

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The Punjab Food Authority’s food safety team has sealed a mini-factory manufacturing counterfeit milk and has destroyed thousands of liters of contaminated milk.

The Punjab Food Authority spokeswoman stated that the team executed the operation in the Sayeddwala region of Nankana Sahib.

The food safety team conducted a raid on the milk plant, where counterfeit milk was being produced using hazardous and banned substances.

The crew secured the factory, confiscated the goods, and filed a case against the plant owners at Syedwala Police Station.

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