Category: health

GENEVA: Five years ago, the World Health Organisation (WHO), on a Tuesday announced COVID-19 to be a global pandemic — a moment that shook the world and global leaders to the impending doom. The highest alarm of WHO was sounded five weeks earlier but the warning, excluding the word “pandemic”, was not given due attentions. At a press conference on March 11, 2020, the head of the United Nations’ health agency, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, finally said the worsening outbreak could be “characterised as a pandemic”. Only then did many countries grasp…

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Lab-grown meat, dairy, and sugar could be approved for sale in the UK within two years, as the Food Standards Agency (FSA) seeks to speed up the regulatory process, BBC reported. The move comes in response to concerns that British companies are losing ground to international competitors in the emerging sector. Currently, lab-grown food—produced from animal or plant cells in controlled environments—has been approved for human consumption in Singapore, the United States, and Israel. However, countries such as Italy and US states like Alabama and Florida have implemented bans. The FSA aims…

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ISLAMABAD: The National Institute of Health (NIH) issued a warning that Punjab, Balochistan, and northern Pakistan are at risk of a dengue outbreak following recent rainfall across the country. The advisory urges authorities and the public to take immediate preventive measures to curb mosquito breeding. According to the NIH advisory, dengue thrives in warm and humid conditions, making post-rainfall periods a high-risk for virus transmission. The institute warned that Pakistan recorded 28,427 dengue cases in 2024, a significant increase from the previous year, and further infections could rise if precautions…

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KARACHI: Pakistan reported its sixth polio case of the year on Saturday, confirmed by the Pakistan Polio Eradication Programme (PPEP), from Thatta district in Sindh. The National Institute of Health’s (NIH) Regional Reference Laboratory has verified the case, marking the fourth polio case from Sindh this year. Earlier, one case was reported from Punjab and another from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. In total, 74 polio cases emerged across the country in 2024, with Balochistan accounting for 27, Sindh for 23, KP for 22, and one each from Punjab and Islamabad. Sponsored Content…

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ISTANBUL: Residing near airports with high aircraft noise could increase the risk of heart issues, including heart attacks and strokes, as per a new study led by University College London researchers. Detailed heart imaging data from 3,635 individuals living near four major airports in England was analysed by the study It was then compared with data from people in areas with lower aircraft noise levels. The risk, researchers found, was particularly true for those exposed to higher aircraft noise at night, likely due to factors such as disrupted sleep and…

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ISLAMABAD: Poliovirus continues to cripple children in Pakistan as another child was diagnosed with the crippling disease in Balochistan taking the national tally to 65. According to the officials, a one-and-a-half-year-old child was affected with poliovirus in Balochistan’s Killa Abdullah district. The latest case takes the total number of cases from the province to 27. Pakistan is one of the two polio-endemic countries in the world, along with Afghanistan, and the number of cases on a yearly basis had significantly dropped in the country, until the recent spike in cases.…

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A rare genetic condition that causes sleep difficulties, memory loss (dementia) and involuntary muscles twitching has no cure and gets worse over time and eventually leads to death. Symptoms of fatal familial insomnia (FFI) can only be slowed through treatment temporarily, according to Cleveland Clinic. FFI affects an estimated one to two people per million every year, as per data provided by the National Organisation of Rare Disorders. It passes from parent to child and between 50 and 70 families around the world are suspected to carry the genetic mutation…

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The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) sounded the alarm on Friday as it released a report in which it discovered an alarming rate of new human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infections among young women and girls. The report, which was released ahead of the world acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) day on Saturday, revealed that in 2023, 96,000 girls and 41,000 boys aged 15-19 were newly infected with HIV, with girls accounting for 70% of these cases. The report warned that these new cases resulted from lack of access…

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