Air pollution: Doctors report prolonged respiratory illnesses in Lahore’s children, risks from fatal diseases

Students cross a rail track amid smoggy conditions in Lahore on November 30, 2021. (AFP/FILE)
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Updated 05 March 2023
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Air pollution: Doctors report prolonged respiratory illnesses in Lahore’s children, risks from fatal diseases

  • One Lahore study that randomly sampled school children showed 20 percent of children had asthma
  • Doctors say Pakistan lacks national action plan on air pollution, warn kids can get heart diseases, cancer

LAHORE: Data and interviews with experts and paediatricians show Pakistani children are suffering from prolonged respiratory illnesses due to increasing air pollution, with health practitioners warning of a rise in cases of hypertension, heart diseases and even cancer among young Pakistanis in the absence of a “national action plan” to tackle worsening air quality levels.

Pakistan is the fourth most polluted country in the world, with almost all of it’s 220 million people living in areas where the annual average particulate pollution level exceeds the WHO guideline, according to IQAIR, which monitors air contamination worldwide.

The country’s eastern city of Lahore, the second largest by population and area and the capital of Punjab province, is among the world’s most polluted urban centers, with IQAIR recording an Air Quality Index (AQI) of 438 in the city in peak smog season last November, a figure that was globally the highest at the time. Compare this to the fact that air is only healthy up to an AQI of 50 and children suffer the most from pollution since they breathe more rapidly than adults and inhale more pollutants.

“We frequently put up the worst numbers,” Professor Waqar Hussain, a paediatrician at Lahore’s Shalimar Hospital, told Arab News, saying the AQI for Lahore frequently veered between 300 and 400: “This is a calamity of epic proportions.”

“Smog destroys respiratory cilia [which clean up debris in human airways], and once gone, the cilia can’t slow down a virus or an infection,” he said. “Our kids already have low immunity because of nutritional deficiencies, and when combined with environmental pollution, these infections become deadly.”

Hussain said air pollution caused more than 50 percent of lower respiratory infections among children, while pregnant women exposed to toxic air were also likely to give premature births with potential complications.

“The UK and the US have the same viruses and infections as us,” Hussain said, comparing Pakistan’s situation with developed countries. “Upper respiratory tract wise, we all see about 10 episodes per year in a child. But in the lower respiratory tract, in the lungs, our numbers [in Lahore] are four times higher. Pneumonia, for instance, asthma, childhood cancer, early age cardiac problems are all in higher incidence here.”

Smog can also lead to fatal complications with diseases like tuberculosis and prolong respiratory infections.

“America’s school going children get a lot of viral infections but they get better in a week,” he said, while children in Lahore suffered for months in such cases.

“IT’S A CRISIS“

Hussain said he was involved in a recent study that randomly sampled school children from different social strata in Lahore for medical checkup.

“From government schools to elite private schools like Aitchison, when the tests came back, 20 percent of the children were diagnosed with asthma,” he said. “Their families had no idea.”

In terms of children’s illnesses, he said last year was among the worst he had ever witnessed in his medical career.

“That’s why I conducted a seminar this January,” he added. “We called experts. It’s a crisis, we have to do something.”

“The mixture of surface level ozone, nitrogen dioxide, fine particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, lead, it’s a case of picking your poison,” Hussain said while explaining the effects of smog on children. “Fetal development is badly affected. Air pollution also impairs neurodevelopment and cognitive function. Autism is rapidly increasing. These are all things I’m witnessing every year now.”

Pakistan Pediatrics Association’s Punjab President Dr. Naeem Zafar said the rise in the number of serious diseases among children in recent years may also have something to do with the coronavirus pandemic that started spreading in late-2020.

“I think COVID-19 has exacerbated problems [of pollution] in a population with already weakened immune systems,” he told Arab News. “Then there are many influenza strains that have recently evolved.”

“Look, we have had smog for decades,” he added. “There were government commissions set up in the 70s, in the 80s, there were short term or aesthetic remedies, visible smog was reduced but the air quality remained bad. The surge in mortality you’re seeing these last few winters probably has more to do with the viruses. They’re much worse now, even in adults.”

However, Professor Hussain was not convinced and said viruses had been around for thousands of years while pandemics happened periodically.

“We said this in the seminars. It’s to do with smog. We are not doing anything, as a government, as a society. We invited everyone to the seminar, our association went to the health department, but no public policy promises were made.”

Hussain pointed out the United States, United Kingdom and China burned more fossil fuels than Pakistan, but they had also improved the overall environmental situation in the last many years as climate change became a reality.

“We join a committee, give a recommendation, then what? Where is the implementation? Pakistan lacks a coordinated national action plan on air pollution,” he said.

Arab News reached out to Syed Hammad Raza Bukhari, the Punjab health department spokesperson, several times to seek comment for this story but he declined. 

Noor Ahmed, a deputy director for the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), a research project launched by the Environmental Protection Department (EPD) to monitor Punjab province, was also unavailable for comment.

“THINGS ARE GOING TO GET WORSE“

Dr. Shahzad Khurram, a paediatrician with 15 years of experience running his private clinic, said his anecdotal experience was the same as Professor Hussain’s.

“I treat young kids with bronchitis, ear infections, problems in the nasal passage, and pneumonia every day,” he told Arab News. “I treated a three-year-old child who had asthma for almost two years. No family history, nothing wrong with the child at birth.”

And while it was difficult, he said, to pinpoint smog as a cause, it was not impossible:

“Sometimes the respiratory problems are genetic, sometimes they’re allergies, from pollen, sometimes it’s influenza, but oftentimes we are seeing coughs and shortness of breath without any apparent cause. That’s when we know it’s smog.”

Taken in isolation, he added, these barely constituted two percent of the cases.

“But we don’t exist in isolation,” the doctor said. “If you ask me, the diseases that smog has made much, much worse, that number goes up to 50 percent. Half the children I see are presenting with symptoms much more severe than their illnesses should be presenting with.”

“I see chronically inflamed tonsils. Narrowed nasal passages in growing children. Children using inhalers twice as often as before,” he added.

Preventively, one could wear a double surgical mask, use nebulizers, take steam, monitor the daily AQI and stay in if it was very high, but these were short term alleviations.

“There are going to be more and more young people with heart diseases, hypertension, cancer,” Khurram warned. “These are just the facts out there. Things are going to get worse. It’s not just the air either, it’s the water, the food. But we simply aren’t responding as a society.”


Gunmen kidnap five policemen in southwestern Pakistan

Updated 4 sec ago
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Gunmen kidnap five policemen in southwestern Pakistan

  • Up to 40 gunmen blocked a major highway, intercepting a prison van being transported by a police team
  • A senior government official, who asked not to be named, said that two gunmen were killed by security forces

QUETTA: A separatist militant group in southwestern Pakistan on Sunday claimed an attack on a prison van in which five police officers were taken hostage.
Between 30 and 40 gunmen blocked a major highway that cuts across Balochistan province overnight on Friday, intercepting a prison van being transported by a police team, a police official said.
“The prisoners were released later but five policemen have been kidnapped,” a senior police official in the area, who was not authorized to speak to the media, told AFP on Sunday.
He said a rescue operation was underway.
The gunmen also set fire to government buildings and a bank in the area.
A senior government official, who asked not to be named, said that two gunmen were killed by security forces.
Pakistan has been battling a separatist insurgency in Balochistan for decades, where militants target state forces, foreign nationals, and non-locals in the mineral-rich southwestern province bordering Afghanistan and Iran.
The Baloch Liberation Army (BLA), the most active group in the region, claimed the assault in Kalat district.
The BLA has previously targeted energy projects receiving foreign financing — most notably from China.
In March, the group seized a train, taking hundreds of passengers hostage and killing off-duty security forces in a three-day seige.


In tit-for-tat move, Pakistan bans Indian ships from its ports

Updated 47 min 15 sec ago
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In tit-for-tat move, Pakistan bans Indian ships from its ports

  • Move comes in response to India’s act of banning Pakistani ships, imports on Saturday
  • Tensions surged after Apr. 22 attack in Indian-administered Kashmir killed 26 tourists

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan this week decided to close its shipping ports for Indian flag carriers, a statement from the country’s maritime affairs ministry said, as Islamabad’s tensions with New Delhi continue to surge following a deadly attack on tourists. 

The move came hours after India announced on Saturday it had banned the import of goods coming from or transiting via Pakistan and barred Pakistani ships. 

Both nations have taken a raft of measures against each other since Apr. 22, when gunmen killed 26 tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir. New Delhi pinned the blame on Islamabad, an accusation that Pakistan has vehemently denied and called for a transparent, international probe into the incident. 

Pakistan’s maritime affairs ministry said its decision to ban Indian ships from Pakistani ports has been taken to “safeguard maritime sovereignty, economic interest and national security.”

“Indian Flag Carriers shall not be allowed to visit any Pakistani port,” the statement said. “Pakistani Flag Carriers shall not visit any Indian Port. Any exemption or dispensation shall be examined and decided on case to case basis,” it added.

Trade between India and Pakistan has dwindled over the last few years. India announced on Saturday that it was banning Pakistani ships to ensure the safety of its assets, cargo and connected infrastructure, in the public interest and in the interest of the Indian shipping industry.

Both countries have been trading fire at the Line of Control frontier in Kashmir, which acts as a de facto border between India and Pakistan, for the last 10 days as per international media reports. 

Since gaining independence from British colonial India in 1947, India and Pakistan have fought two out of three wars over the disputed Himalayan region of Kashmir. Both countries claim it in full but administer only parts of it. 

The US, China, UK, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, Iran and several other nations have called on both nuclear-armed neighbors recently to de-escalate tensions and avoid a military standoff. 

Pakistan has vowed it would issue a “strong” response if the Indian military attacks. India’s PM Narendra Modi this week gave his country’s military “operational freedom” to respond to the Apr. 22 attack.


‘We don’t care’: Weddings go on in Pakistan’s Kashmir border 

Updated 04 May 2025
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‘We don’t care’: Weddings go on in Pakistan’s Kashmir border 

  • Tensions between India, Pakistan soared after New Delhi accused Islamabad of backing Apr. 22 attack in Kashmir
  • Ordinary Kashmiris living on both sides of divided region are often the first victims caught in the conflict’s crossfire

Neelum Valley, Pakistan: Rabia Bibi, a glittering red dupatta pulled over her eyes, wasn’t about to let the threat of war with India stop her wedding in a remote valley in Pakistan-administered Kashmir.

“In our childhood the situation was also like this but we are not afraid. Nor will we be,” the 18-year-old told AFP after being carried in a flower-garlanded “doli” carriage.

“We want peace, so our life does not get affected,” said the bride, radiant in gold bangles, bejeweled bridal headpiece and richly embroidered scarlet robe.

Relatives carry the bride, Rabia Bibi, in a Doli, a traditional hand cart used to carry brides at weddings, as they leave for the groom's house in Ashkot village on the Line of Control (LoC) in Neelum Valley, district of Pakistan's Kashmir, on May 3, 2025, following the ongoing border tensions between India and Pakistan after the Kashmir tourist attack. (Photo by Farooq NAEEM / AFP)

At the ceremony — preceded by the sacrifice of a chicken — groom Chaudhry Junaid, no less resplendent in his elaborate sherwani coat and red-and-gold turban, was also defiant.

“People are anxious and worried, but even so, we haven’t canceled any traditional ceremonies,” the 23-year-old chef said.

The Neelum River and settlements along the Line of Control (LoC) between India (L) and Pakistan are pictured on May 3, 2025, from the Neelum Valley, a district in Pakistan's Kashmir. (AFP)

Tensions between the nuclear-armed arch-rivals have soared since India accused Pakistan of backing a shooting that killed 26 civilians on the Indian side of disputed Kashmir on April 22.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has given his military “full operational freedom” to respond to the attack.

The two sides have traded gunfire for more than a week on the heavily militarised border and Pakistan on Saturday conducted a “training launch” of a missile to prove its “operational readiness.”

The Neelum River and settlements along the Line of Control (LoC) between India (L) and Pakistan are pictured on May 3, 2025, from the Neelum Valley, a district in Pakistan's Kashmir. (AFP)

Islamabad last week warned they had “credible intelligence” that India was planning imminent strikes.

International pressure has been piled on both New Delhi and Islamabad to de-escalate.

On the Pakistani side, emergency drills have been carried out in playing fields, residents have been told to stock up on food and medicine, and religious schools have shut.

A motorist rides past deserted tourist hotels and eateries in Keran village on the Line of Control (LoC) in Neelum Valley, a district of Pakistan's Kashmir, on May 3, 2025. (AFP)

In Indian-run Kashmir, a vast manhunt seeking the gunmen continues across the territory, while those living along the frontier are moving further away — or cleaning out bunkers fearing conflict.

India and Pakistan, which both claim Kashmir in full, have fought several wars over the Himalayan territory since the end of British rule in 1947.

Ordinary Kashmiris living on both sides of the divided Muslim-majority region are often the first victims caught in the crossfire.

In a checkpoint-free corner of the picturesque Neelum Valley, a tourist epicenter that was shut down last week, Indian territory is the other side of the river that winds through the mountainous region.

Residents told AFP they had been urged by the Pakistani authorities to remain vigilant because of the threat of a possible military confrontation.

In another village, mechanical engineer Shoaib Akhtar was also getting married.

“This is the happiest occasion of our lives, and we won’t let anything ruin it,” said Akhtar, the 25-year-old groom surrounded by family.

“Right now, I’m getting married and that’s what matters most. If war comes, we’ll deal with it when it happens,” he added.

Relatives carry the bride, Rabia Bibi, in a Doli, a traditional hand cart used to carry brides at weddings, as they leave for the groom's house in Ashkot village on the Line of Control (LoC) in Neelum Valley, district of Pakistan's Kashmir, on May 3, 2025. (AFP)

“We are happy, and if India has some issues, we don’t care,” Bibi said.

“We stand firm and will fight for our interests and our nation.”


Pakistan says IT systems, Hajj app ensuring ‘complete automation’ of pilgrimage operations

Updated 56 min 20 sec ago
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Pakistan says IT systems, Hajj app ensuring ‘complete automation’ of pilgrimage operations

  • ’Pak Hajj 2025’ app guides pilgrims about training schedules, vaccinations, flight details
  • Launched in November last year, the mobile app is available for Android and iPhone users

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s religion ministry said on Sunday that modern information technology (IT) systems and the government’s official Hajj mobile application are facilitating pilgrims and ensuring “complete automation” of the country’s pilgrimage operations. 

Pakistan’s religious affairs ministry launched the “Pak Hajj 2025” mobile application in November to guide and facilitate pilgrims about the 2025 pilgrimage. 

Pakistani pilgrims used the app, which is available for both Android and iPhone, last year as well to secure important updates and information about the Hajj pilgrimage. 

Speaking to state broadcaster Radio Pakistan, Jamil ur Rehman, assistant director of the religion ministry’s IT cell, spoke about key features of the app. 

“He said complete automation has been ensured from application submission to post-Hajj feedback, using modern IT systems and the Pak Hajj App,” the state broadcaster said. 

Rehman said the app provides pilgrims with real-time access to their Hajj application status, group details, training schedules and vaccination appointments. 

Once training is completed, he said, intending pilgrims’ attendance is marked in the app and their flight details appear as soon as seats are allocated.

Rehman said the app’s feedback feature allows pilgrims to regularly share their experiences and suggestions. He also spoke about a real-time complaint management system available in the app. 

“Pilgrims can report any issues, which are immediately assigned to the officer concerned,” Rehman said.

“The app displays the complaint’s status, the responsible officer, and updates until the issue is resolved.”

The religion ministry official hoped baggage mishandling would be significantly reduced through the introduction of QR-coded tags, which are linked to each pilgrim’s profile, including their photograph. 

“This allows quick identification and tracking of luggage,” he said. 

Pilgrims from across the world are converging in Saudi Arabia to perform Hajj, which begins on the 8th of Dhu Al-Hijjah, the final month of the Islamic calendar.

The first groups of Pakistani pilgrims are scheduled to depart for Makkah on May 7 after completing their eight-day stay in Madinah. Departures will follow the sequence of their arrival in the city, according to the religious affairs ministry.


Singles meet-up in Pakistan’s capital offers modern matchmaking with traditional touch

Updated 04 May 2025
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Singles meet-up in Pakistan’s capital offers modern matchmaking with traditional touch

  • The event, organized by the world’s largest Muslim marriage app, brought together nearly 190 people
  • A chaperone was mandatory for participants, reflecting cultural sensitivities and ensuring seriousness

ISLAMABAD: In a country where conservative social norms often discourage casual dating, nearly 190 Pakistanis gathered in Islamabad on Saturday for a rare singles meet-up offering a more open, yet culturally respectful, route to finding a life partner.

Organized by Muzz, the world’s largest Muslim marriage app with over 15 million members, the event launched a series of matchmaking gatherings across Pakistan under the banner “Baat Pakki,” an Urdu phrase used when families agree to a marriage match. Muzz told Arab News it has over 2 million users in Pakistan. 

A chaperone was mandatory for every participant, reflecting cultural sensitivities and ensuring seriousness.

“The goal of the event today was to help people of mixed ages to be able to meet each other,” Shahzad Younas, CEO of Muzz, told Arab News.

“The job of the team here … is to help people mingle and make sure that hopefully by the end of the event, everyone has talked to everyone who’s potentially compatible with them,” he added.

Singles talk to each other at the Muzz “Baat Pakki” event in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 3, 2025. (AN photo)

Attendees were divided into three age groups — 22 to 30, 30 to 40 and 40-plus — with an adjoining lounge for family members. Icebreaker questions and Muzz staff helped start conversations at each table.

Singles first met within their age group before being introduced to others, aiming for broad interaction during the four-hour gathering.

The event was unique in a country where marriages are traditionally arranged by families or through professional matchmakers known as “Rishta Aunties,” who connect prospective families but rarely allow singles to meet independently before a match is proposed.

“Involving parents makes the process more transparent,” said Nazleen Javed, 65, who attended with her daughter. “Matchmakers are fake. See if you are coming with mother, your lie gets caught. A mother cannot lie, and the blessings of parents are different.”

Mothers talk to each other at the Muzz “Baat Pakki” event in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 3, 2025. (AN photo)

Others valued the chance to break away from rigid traditions.

“This way is better because you can see, talk and get a feel of the person,” said Noreen Khan, who came with her son. “Children have to spend their lives together. They should have some freedom to meet and speak to each other.”

Maheen, 27, said she had long been uncomfortable with conventional arranged marriage practices.

“I am not fond of the traditional way [of matchmaking] wherein the boy’s family visits your house and you, holding the tray, enter the room and they are looking at you, picking out faults,” she said.

“You [should be able to] talk to each other one-on-one, face-to-face, without the fear of rejection,” she continued. “That’s why I am here.”

A mothers talks to Muzz team at the “Baat Pakki” event in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 3, 2025. (AN photo)

Fariha Khan, 36, who works in the NGO sector in Peshawar, appreciated the diversity of participants.

“People from different cities and castes met here. That hesitation around differences was reduced today.”

Saad Waheed, 28, a mechanical engineer, admitted feeling uneasy at first after arriving at the event.

“I was a little bit hesitant … because I needed a chaperone and it felt very strange to me,” he said. “But in the long run, it makes sense. It means that everyone that’s here is serious about what they have signed up for.”

Singles and parents are pictured at the at the Muzz “Baat Pakki” event in Islamabad, Pakistan, on May 3, 2025. (AN photo)

Waheed also maintained matrimonial apps often felt impersonal to him.

“Single events like these offer a chance to make friends, which is a more natural way of meeting a partner.”

Nayab Nazir, Muzz’s marketing lead for Pakistan, said participants can later review the profiles of those they met through the app.

“I go back home, and if I have liked, let’s say, five people at the event, I can actually go and look at all those five profiles and connect directly instead of having a third person in between.”

Founded in 2015, Muzz has increasingly adapted its approach for Pakistan’s cultural context.

“We actually found that by inviting the mums it just helped make sure everyone was more serious,” Younas, the company’s CEO, said.

“It helps reduce the taboo of going to a singles event effectively,” he added. “A lot of mums can meet each other. They can see lots of people in one place in just a few hours.”