World

Tuberculosis Day 2022: All you need to know

Published

2 years ago

Farwa

Tuberculosis is the second deadliest infectious disease.
TB defies vaccines and antibiotics.
TB is present on all five continents, but developing countries are disproportionately affected.

Tuberculosis (TB) may have been overtaken by COVID-19 as the world’s deadliest infectious disease, but it continues to defy vaccines and antibiotics to wreak a grim global toll.

Here are five things to know about an infection that has scourged the world for tens of thousands of years.

40,000 years old

TB first emerged around 40,000 years ago, according to genetic studies.

For a long time, scientists believed that tuberculosis in humans came from TB in cattle and that it had been transmitted when livestock farming started in the Neolithic Age.

But recent studies paint a different picture, showing that TB already existed in humans before they started to raise cattle. Traces of the illness have been discovered in human remains that are around 11,000 years old.

100 years ago: A vaccine

World TB Day is marked each year on March 24, the anniversary of the announcement of the discovery of the bacillus in 1882 by Nobel laureate Robert Koch of Germany.

It was, however, only in 1921 that France’s legendary Pasteur Institute developed the Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, which became one of the world´s oldest and most trusted jabs.

A century on, the vaccine is still in use and is particularly effective in preventing tuberculosis in children, but results are variable in adults.

Antibiotics are not very effective

In the 1940s and 1950s, the discovery of streptomycin and other antibiotics made it possible to treat pulmonary TB, the most common form of the disease amongst adults and teens.

But drug-resistant strains of tuberculosis emerged, forcing doctors to use antibiotic cocktails to efficiently muzzle the bacteria and to apply their treatment over several months.

Some strains are resistant to several TB drugs, forcing the use of alternative treatments for many months and leading in some cases to therapeutic failures.

Second-biggest killer

TB was the world’s second-deadliest infectious disease after Covid-19 in 2020 (the latest year for which figures are available), accounting for 1.5 million deaths, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

Covid killed more than 1.8 million people that year, according to an AFP count based on official figures.

Before Covid emerged, TB had occupied the top spot, claiming more lives than HIV/AIDS, which cost 680,000 lives in 2020 according to UNAIDS.

TB is also a major cause of death amongst people living with HIV.

Disruptions in access to healthcare because of the Covid pandemic have erased years of progress toward tackling the curable disease.

As a result, TB is on the rise again globally, with the number of deaths rising by 7% in 2020.

On five continents

TB is present on all five continents, but developing countries are disproportionately affected.

In 2020, two regions accounted for the biggest number of new cases: southeast Asia recorded 43% of the new cases and Africa 25%, according to the WHO.

Two-thirds of the cases were concentrated in eight countries: Bangladesh, China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, the Philippines, and South Africa.

Business

Nineth round of political talks between Pakistan and the EU centers on trade and security

Published

1 month ago

Farwa

In their ninth round of political dialogue, which took place here on Wednesday, Pakistan and the EU discussed all aspects of their bilateral relationship, with a particular emphasis on the Strategic Engagement Plan (SEP), trade and development cooperation, security, climate action, migration, and mobility.

The team from Pakistan was led by Foreign Secretary Muhammad Syrus Sajjad Qazi, while Enrique Mora, Deputy Secretary General of the European External Action Service, represented the EU.

Significant local and international happenings were also covered.

The two parties expressed satisfaction with the positive direction of the relationship and decided to keep working to expand and deepen bilateral ties between Pakistan and the EU in all areas of shared interest. They will do this by routinely convening institutional mechanism meetings and carrying out follow-up tasks.

The two sides acknowledged the significance of bilateral relations between Pakistan and the EU, concurring that frequent high-level meetings have given the relationship new life and emphasized the need for close communication and collaboration in the face of a geopolitical environment that is changing quickly.

In order to bring about diversification and sustainability in trade ties between Pakistan and the European Union, the Foreign Secretary emphasized the need for deeper collaboration with key stakeholders on both sides, acknowledging GSP Plus as a successful model of trade for development and mutually beneficial cooperation.

The two parties also decided to investigate fresh prospects under the EU’s major initiatives, Horizon Europe and the Global Gateway Strategy.

Traval

In Canada, another member of the PIA crew disappears.

Published

2 months ago

Farwa

Jibran Baloch, a flight attendant, is the second PIA air hostess to vanish this month; she was scheduled to take a Toronto trip from Karachi and then left the hotel.

Flight 782 failed to arrive for its planned return duty on February 29. Jibran Baloch, a flight attendant, is the second air hostess to go this month.

When staff members searched Jabran Baloch’s room, they discovered that he had fallen. Another missing person from the hotel a few days earlier was a female air hostess. In just a few months, almost 12 air hostesses who were assigned to flights to Toronto had vanished.

A Pakistan International Airlines (PIA) flight hostess is said to have vanished from her job in Canada earlier this month.

When Maryam Raza, who was supposed to be on aircraft PK 782 from Pakistan to Toronto, neglected to show up for work on the return trip, PK 784 from Toronto to Karachi, the event became public knowledge. According to those with knowledge of the situation, after PIA’s hanging uniform was found in her room, a letter with the words “Thank you, PIA” was found next to it.

This is the third instance of PIA flight attendants’slipping’ while on duty that has been documented this year; two of the cases involve women.

The efficacy of these procedures has not increased despite steps taken to prevent similar instances, such as obtaining the passports of flight attendants assigned to Toronto flights.

Pakistan

China “agrees” to transfer $2 billion in debt to Pakistan.

Published

3 months ago

Farwa

ISLAMABAD China has “agreed” to roll over a $2 billion loan to Pakistan, according to sources cited by ARY News, which is a big milestone.

Sources inside the ministry of finance claim that the $2 billion loan will be rolled over under the current terms prior to its maturity date.

Less than 2 percent interest will be charged on the $2 billion in Chinese debt that is being deposited, according to sources.

According to reports, the $2 billion debt’s maturity period will conclude on March 23, 2024, and an additional $2 billion will be rolled over for a year.

It is important to note that as of the end of November in FY2023–24, Pakistan’s overall debt load was at an astounding Rs 63,399 trillion.

Over Rs12.430 trillion more was borrowed by the nation during the PDM and caretaker government’s mandate.

With domestic loans totaling Rs40.956 trillion and foreign loans totaling Rs22.434 trillion, Pakistan’s total debt load increased to Rs63.390 trillion.

China postponed paying Pakistan’s $2 billion debt for two years, starting in July 2023. Regarding the delay in debt recovery, Pakistan received an official letter from China Eximbank.

Pakistan will return the debt in accordance with the terms of the deal with China and was also spared from paying extra interest on the loan. According to further sources, all 31 loan agreements were extended over the original date of July 21, 2023, to June 30, 2025.