Free birth, death registration offered for 7 years
The Punjab government has enacted new rules to streamline and simplify the registration of births and deaths across the province, eliminating fees for timely registrations and easing procedural hurdles for delayed entries.
The Punjab Local Government and Community Development Department has notified the Birth and Death Registration Rules, 2025, following approval from the secretaries of law and local government.
Under the new rules, birth and death registrations within seven years of the event will be processed free of charge, and citizens will also be issued computerised certificates. According to the notification, the registration and issuance of birth or death certificates will remain free of charge for one year.
However, a fee of Rs200 will apply for late registration of births after seven years.
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Express Tribune
3 days ago
- Express Tribune
Cancer patients denied affordable treatment in Karachi
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Express Tribune
5 days ago
- Express Tribune
Aid queues turn deadly as 73 killed in Gaza in one day
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The doctor said he witnessed 'mass casualty incidents' from Israeli shootings at the food distribution points run by the United States-backed GHF on an almost daily basis. The boys and young men came in with very specific injuries, 'almost like a daily pattern', he said. 'Meaning on a given day, say Monday, we'd get 40, 60 patients coming in at a given time, and they would all be shot in the legs, or in the pelvic area, or the groin on a given day, just kind of a similar pattern. And the next day, we would see upper body, chest, thoracic pattern, and then there were days we saw only head wounds, upper neck bullet wounds. And what it felt like, at least for me, the position that I went with, was that somebody behind the gun that day was going to choose the way they were either going to maim or decide to kill people,' he said. 'It was age indiscriminate.' 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'The people would tell us they were sometimes at the site, or around the area, or they were trying to leave… and they were shot indiscriminately; it was like they were being sprayed. It seemed quite obvious to them and to us, from a pattern-recognition perspective, in terms of who came to the ER [emergency room], that on a given day, whoever was deciding on the trigger was choosing a very specific pattern of fire,' he said. Read More: UN says over 1,300 Palestinians killed seeking aid in Gaza since May The doctor went on to describe all of Gaza as a 'death trap'. 'It is a cage in which people are being marked for death. It almost feels like there is a quota for the number of people that need to be killed on a given day,' Yousaf said. On the days that Palestinians stayed away from the GHF sites, because Israel allowed in more aid trucks, there would be more intense air attacks, he said. 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REUTERS One clear aspect of this, he said, was Israel's refusal to let him and his colleagues take in medical supplies or baby formula. 'When we were screened by the [Israeli military] at the border, the vast majority of us had things confiscated from our bags. Things like food and multivitamins and antibiotics and medical supplies, like stethoscopes, everything you can imagine, that we wished we could have to treat the people on the ground in Gaza,' he said. 'And this resulted in a situation in which, when those patients came in, in different stages of dying, screaming in pain for their mothers… we knew that in any other environment, we could have done something for them, but in the environment of Gaza, in the death trap that is Gaza completely, we were unable to give them the aid that they deserve, to provide the human dignity and humanity that they deserve.' People around the world have mourned and paid tribute to the journalists, including Anas al-Sharif, who was well known for his reporting from northern Gaza [AFP] AFP New Zealand Prime Minister slams Netanyahu New Zealand PM Christopher Luxon says Israel's leader Benjamin Netanyahu has 'lost the plot' as his country weighs up whether to recognise a Palestinian state. New Zealand's Prime Minister Christopher Luxon speaks in parliament in Wellington, New Zealand, on November 12, 2024 [File: via AP] 'I think what's happening in Gaza is utterly appalling. I think Netanyahu has gone way too far. I think he has lost the plot,' the PM told reporters. He called Israeli attacks overnight on Gaza 'utterly, utterly unacceptable' and said the forceful displacement of people and the annexation of Gaza would be a breach of international law. 'We have called these things out consistently … and he's just not listening,' the leader added. Luxon said earlier this week that New Zealand was considering whether to recognise a Palestinian state. Close ally Australia on Monday joined Canada, the UK and France in announcing it would do so at a UN conference in September. Also Read: Australia to recognise Palestinian state Palestinians take the bodies of loved ones killed in Israeli attacks to al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, Gaza, on Tuesday [Anadolu] Israel's war in Gaza The war, now in its 21st month, has killed more than 61,599 Palestinians and wounded 154,088, according to Gazan health authorities. Most of the victims are reported to be women and children. Last November, the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant over war crimes and crimes against humanity. Israel is also facing a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its conduct in Gaza.
Express Tribune
06-08-2025
- Express Tribune
Autistic children lack support in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
In Pakistan, the predominant definition of a healthy child is a cute chubby kid with squeezable cheeks. As a result of this superficial criterion for well-being, children born with autism, who experience trouble reaching various neuro-developmental milestones, are often left neglected not only by caregivers but also by healthcare providers. Although lack of awareness on autism persists across the whole country, in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), the issue is significantly more alarming since till date the government has failed to establish a single public autism centre during their 14 years of holding office. Across the province, including Peshawar, there is no government-run facility to diagnose or treat children living with autism, leaving families to rely on expensive private centres or seek online consultations from other cities and abroad. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines autism as a diverse group of conditions marked by some degree of difficulty with social interaction and communication. Among children, the most common symptoms include difficulty in speech, avoiding eye contact, repetitive movements, social isolation and fixed preferences and routines. According to the Autism Society of Pakistan, nearly 400,000 children in Pakistan suffer from autism, with around 150,000 belonging to K-P and the nearby tribal areas. Alarmingly, K-P's health and social welfare departments do not even maintain official data on these children, highlighting a complete absence of state-level awareness or planning. As a result, parents are forced to approach facilities like PIMS in Islamabad, the Aga Khan Hospital in Karachi, or even attend costly online sessions with foreign experts. One such parent was Sidra Khan, whose four-year-old son was diagnosed with autism. It took her three months to even find a doctor for consultation. After an online session with a US-based doctor via PIMS, she discovered that no government centres for autism existed in K-P. At a private centre in Peshawar's University Town, she was charged Rs100,000 per month for therapy, forcing her to sell family property to continue her son's treatment. Similarly, Kamran, another parent from inner Peshawar, revealed that his nine-year-old son's autism was diagnosed three years ago. Due to the absence of experts in Peshawar, he is now planning to relocate to Islamabad or Karachi. Similarly, Nafeesa, a mother of two autistic children from K-P, was compelled to move to Islamabad to enroll her children into a special needs school, after spending nearly Rs200,000 to Rs300,000 on their unsuccessful treatment in Peshawar. According to a survey conducted by the Express Tribune, Peshawar has just one semi-public autism centre, which started as a project in 2021 and became operational in 2023 under the Social Welfare Department. This centre, located in Hayatabad, registers only 70 children, operates with just 14 staff members, and has a waiting list of over 200 children due to space and staffing shortages. There are roughly 15 private autism centres and five schools in Peshawar, charging between Rs60,000 to Rs100,000 per month, with only one offering free therapy to underprivileged families. Approximately 700 children receive therapy in these private facilities. Clinical psychologist, Masooma Khan explained that psychological, speech, occupational, and behavioral therapies, along with parental involvement, were essential for improving the lives of autistic children. Likewise, Dr Tariq Khan, a speech therapist associated with the Paraplegic Centre in Peshawar, stressed the need for early intervention, noting that most children were diagnosed at ages seven or eight, when developmental improvements become much harder. "Government intervention is necessary for improving autism services in public hospitals, increased awareness, and affordable therapies. Lack of treatment pushes many autistic children into lifelong psychological struggles, while poor families remain helpless due to unaffordable therapy costs," said Dr Khan.
